Shattered

It's exactly two weeks since my life and my dreams were shattered. Now you might say that's over-exaggerating, and you have every right to say that. However, I have every right to disagree with you.

The last 5 years here in Southern Oregon have been a blur, but a wonderful one. I have a new home, a new "family", a new life. Now I have been forced by the U.S. government to return to the UK and start the visa process from scratch all over again.

Now is not the time, and this is not the place to discuss the immigration authorities and the government. Believe me, I have plenty to say about them, but I'm not saying it here. 

I do struggle with why this has happened to me now, and I'm not sure I'll ever understand why. When I see what this is doing to my close family here, let alone myself, there are plenty of questions about the injustice of it all. Why would God send me back to England for anything between six months and a year, with nothing, to try and rebuild my life with no guarantee that I'm going to get back in. Makes no sense.

However, I have to be obedient to God, even though leaving my home here is the last thing on earth I want to do. I can't go back grudgingly and ungratefully. After all, I will be seeing family and close friends for the first time in years. It would be unfair to them to go back with a bad attitude.

So, it's all about obedience and positivity, but that's hard. Very hard. And I don't like it.

Please pray for me as I get things ready to leave, as I have to clear out and leave an apartment I love, leave my job and livelihood, leave behind the church and friends I love dearly, try to find storage for the stuff I will be keeping. And please pray that as my employers file papers to get me back once I get back to the UK, that they will be able to do it promptly and successfully. And of course, pray for provision of so many things which I need from God like never before.

I leave my job on March 2nd, leave Medford for Olympia WA on March 14th or thereabouts, and my flight for the UK is March 27th.

You can follow my progress in more detail on the blog here ,while the posts on this blog will be of a more general nature. 

Take the journey with me, and please pray me through it.

Coming soon...

Just in case you are wondering what became of the "Filling In The Blanks" series a year ago, I will be starting it up again soon. The next part of the series will deal with my second year with the British Youth For Christ band "TVB".
 It takes some time to dredge back all the way to 1994, so you'll forgive me if it takes a while. Also I need to be in just the right mood to do these flashbacks. Anyway, I think I'll be ready for the next one soon, so stand by for tales of the new line-up, a return visit to Croatia, secret weeping sessions behind the equipment van,  recording the TVB album, and much more.


Stay tuned....

The Real World

A few weeks back I posted something on Facebook, which, not untypically, received some response. One such response referred to what happens in the "real world", the suggestion seemingly being that the point I was making was not grounded in this "real world" but was some form of unrealistic "pie in the sky" ideal.
That set me thinking. A lot of people these days see Christians and Christian beliefs as unrealistic, old-fashioned, even offensive...and certainly out of step with current postmodern world philosophies.
Having mulled this over for a few weeks, I cannot but come to the conclusion that if being a Christian and holding to what the Bible teaches is out of step with the Real World, then I definitely don't want to be a part of that world. Far from it. We Christians are called to be as "out-of-step" as it takes to hold true to what God teaches through His Word.
Much of what Jesus said while he was on earth was the complete opposite to what people expected to hear, or were maybe wanting to hear. Love your enemies, sell all your possessions, pray for your persecutors  etc. etc. Incidentally, all of these were, of course, in their own context, but you see my point.  Jesus' Biblical principles hold no less true today, and maybe are just as "out-of-step" as ever.
I then got to thinking -- what actually IS the "Real World"? Of course, on this modern-day God-less earth we are referring to whatever is popular, what is perceived to be morally or intellectually "right" by human standards. 
It may be a real world to those who don't know God, but isn't the truth more that it is God's world that is - in fact - real, and the one constructed by humans to justify the way we have decided to live - apart from God - is out of step with Biblical reality?
So, which world really IS "real"?

Are We Listening?

I have sat here for what seems the longest time trying to figure out what I should say. It seems ages since I last wrote anything, but I've come to the conclusion that as of now, I really don't have anything to say...or so I thought.
I remember reading somewhere about prayer and the fact that it is most definitely a two-way conversation with God. Far too many people -- myself included -- turn it into a one-way wish list, and barely pause for breath as we hurtle through our bucket list of prayer needs. Sound familiar?!
Well of course the thing about prayer is that a crucial element is not just the talking, but the LISTENING. Trouble is these days we are wired to fill all the gaps, the "awkward pauses" if you will, with....SOMETHING...anything. That's the way it works in our conversations with family and friends.
How many times have you been in a room with your friends and you are ALL texting or surfing on your smart phones. I know I've experienced it. Heck, I even took a PHOTO of it on my....SMART PHONE!!
Anyway, all this to say that God very patiently waits while we yack away, and then He opens His mouth. The question is, what do we do at that point? What do I do? What do you do?

Are we listening?

"Be still and know that I am God" ~ Psalm 46:10

[By the way, I had absolutely NO idea this would come out when I started writing a few minutes ago. Ironically I was just gonna write that I had nothing to say. Ultimately I didn't, but God did]

How Harold Camping might have done us a favour

So the day of the Rapture, as forecast by self-styled "prophet" Harold Camping, has come and gone, to no one's real surprise. For those who were wondering, a tumultuous earthquake was to shake the world at 6pm in every time zone starting on the International Date Line and rolling west across the globe.
My first reaction to all this was anger. Anger that someone can so blatantly misuse the Bible (which clearly says that none of us here on earth will know the time or the hour of the world's end - Matthew 24:36) to essentially drag the name of Christianity through the mud again. His blinkered insistence that he was right was only made worse by his continual vows that the Bible doesn't lie (which is true), but then using it to back up his flawed beliefs.

So yes, I was angry. Angry because this man does not represent what 99.99% of Christians believe - of course. Then I felt sorry for him. This is a great example of just how lost people really are. How we as humans try to over think what is in fact a very simple Gospel. Camping is sadly just one of a myriad people who seem to wish the message of Jesus was far more complex than it really is, but there are many examples here on earth of how we continually strive to elevate our status as thinking beings to those of near gods. I really hope Camping sees the real truth. maybe someone can yet put him straight - if he'll listen.


Finally I've come round to thinking that Camping and his Family Radio followers, despite raising obscene amounts of money in support of their failed premise, could well have done us a favour.


Somehow, Camping has managed to draw worldwide attention to his Doomsday "prophecies", and I would argue that one positive effect of all this is that the world is now TALKING about it again. let's not forget here that the world IS going to end. Before we relax too much, what Camping is talking about, IS - in some shape or form - going to happen, and still we do not know when. Could be tomorrow, could be next year, but isn't this a great opportunity to seize world attention and tell them how important it is to be ready, how important it is to know the Jesus who is coming back, with the clouds?


Christians need to be telling those who are perishing that there is an end to the world, and also that there is hope. Camping has - unwittingly - handed us an amazing opportunity as the world watches, to maybe lift the debate to another level. What am I...what are we..going to do with this opportunity?
 

Under Scrutiny...

I've been trying to decide whether I want to say anything on the subject of the bin Laden assassination, since I know that whatever I say will be criticized by some people, but to put anything in the public eye, one has to be accustomed to opposition, so I'm quite prepared for that!
I have to say my initial reaction was tempered very much by what I was doing at the time. I turned on Fox News about 7.15 on Sunday evening, expecting to see a retrospective of the Royal Wedding (yes, I KNOW!), and was instead met with Geraldo Rivera and guest speculating endlessly on what might be the subject of the President's upcoming national TV address, due for 7.30 PST.
Now bear in mind at this stage that nobody actually knew anything about the subject matter of this address. I immediately went into Dove work mode and logged into the Dove Newsroom Twitter account, so I could give updates about whatever was going on. In fact, it was on Twitter that the first rumours of bin Laden's death started appearing. Moreover, the official confirmation of this appeared on Twitter a good five minutes before Fox got a hold of it.
Prior to finding out the truth, the speculation on Fox was connected with Libya, with some wondering aloud if there had been some sort of attack - chemical or otherwise - against the US. Now remember that for the President to address the nation at 10.30pm EST is very unusual, so these were distinct possibilities.
When the news finally broke on Fox and was confirmed, I very quickly switched to CNN as I was not comfortable with the celebratory reaction of Geraldo. He was high-fiving his guest (a former general, who looked rather embarrassed), calling it the greatest night of his life, and referring to the S of a B being dead. Highly unprofessional in my book, but maybe not surprising. [Interestingly enough, when I briefly switched back to Fox a half hour or so later, the altogether more professional Bret Baier had been installed as anchor, much to my relief.]
As to my personal reaction, I certainly won't pretend there wasn't a measure of satisfaction that the world's most wanted terrorist had been taken out, along with a deep sense of gratitude for the bravery of the Navy SEALS, who did their job in very dangerous circumstances, deep gratitude to President George W. Bush for starting the process of finding and removing bin Laden, and of course the current President for what must have been a very difficult decision - a brave one too.
I must confess to a feeling of discomfort watching the gatherings outside the White House and in Times Square (and later at Ground Zero). These people seemed to be mainly students, and there were no more than a few 9/11 relatives to be found. I wondered if relatives of the fallen really would feel the closure that some thought would come. I also wondered if we really would see an end to the Al Qaeda attacks. Sure we'd taken out the leader, and dominating charismatic figure, but we'd instantly created a motive for those who remain to continue and step up their campaign.
Unlike some, I do not believe that the demonstrations were organized. I think even young people remember clearly the sight of Palestinians jumping with glee after 9/11, and (rightly or wrongly) felt led to do the same. In addition, with social media being what it is, news of what had happened travels incredibly fast on Twitter and the like, remembering too that the President's broadcast was delayed by an hour, giving people ample time to find out what had occurred and gather wherever they wanted to.
Although I chose not to dance in the street, and didn't feel it to be an appropriate response, neither did I feel it appropriate at this early juncture to spray Bible verses about loving one's enemies around willy-nilly, like some felt led to do. To my mind, this is the easiest thing to do, and if we are not really careful, it can easily reinforce the public perception of Christians as judgmental, self-righteous and "holier-than-thou". There have been one or two rather pharisaical posts on social media networks in the past few days, I'm sad to say (along with some mis-quotes). The best posts by Christians have been of a measured and thoughtful nature, and well away from the judgements that have characterized a lot of the Christian response.
I hope that now we can all get back to being vigilant for further attacks, continuing to pray for our persecutors, and making sure that our own house is in order as we live our lives as Christians under the scrutiny of the world, and our creator.

You should write about this too!

I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this week off. It's lovely to get away - even though it's only some 300 miles or so - from the rat race, and just recharge the batteries with another of my favorite West Coast "families". I seem to have picked up 3 or 4 new families of my own, which more than make up for my real one being 6,000 miles away.

As I write I am looking out of the second floor window at...basically...forest. Tall pine trees and a sense of peace. So what was I going to write about? Ah yes...

I did a second round of HCG recently. Unfortunately it was cut short by what I thought was another cold coming on. As it turned out it was a 24 hour sniffle, but by the time I realized this, I'd come off the diet - just to be safe - so the weight loss was not really what I had hoped it would be...this time.

Anyway, of the three pairs of jeans I own, two of them were purchased at a time when I was definitely not under the influence of, let's say, HCG thinking. In short, they have grown pretty baggy.

Now I come from a waste-not, want-not mentality. My family has always instilled in me that if anything CAN be used, it SHOULD be used, so I'm hardly about to throw out two perfectly good pairs of jeans. No sir. I decided that as long as I had a belt, I would be fine with them.

The last time I did HCG, back in October/November was after my last air trip, and the last time I did fly, which would have been September last year, I had still lost weight in the time since the jeans were bought. However with the new TSA security rules requiring belt removal to go through security, back in September this hadn't caused any real jeans-related problems - if you get my drift.

BUT....! this time, I had not quite realized the effect the combined weight loss of two rounds of HCG (amounting to some 30 pounds) would have on the ability of my jeans to...erm...stay up of their own accord without a belt.

Going through security yesterday I had a bit of a shock. I'm not saying they fell to half mast as the belt came off, but it sure FELT like it! Loose is not the word. Suffice it to say there was nearly an international incident of an entirely non-terrorist nature at Medford Rogue Valley International Airport yesterday afternoon.

Now, how to get through Seattle security next weekend without the same thing happening...!

Any ideas?