My 5 Life-changing moments - Part 1

I guess one major consequence of posting bulletins asking for people's "Top 5's" is that you will be asked for yours too. So, in response to those who asked, here are my top 5 life-changing moments (after, I might add, some considerable thought).

I should say too that these are most definitely, "so far", since there may well me more life defining moments to come, and I may well have already experienced moments that will change my life, even though I don't know it yet.

Anyways, in no particular order....

I've tried to be chronological in the way I've done this, and so 1 would be the decision my family made to change churches when I was in my early teens. This might not on the surface seem to be that significant, but what the move from St Peter & St Paul's Tonbridge (known by most in the town as "The Parish Church", although by Duncan Price as "The OTHER Parish Church"!) to St Stephen's did was to introduce me to a group of friends who have remained my strongest in my home town. People who were a part of the Wayfarers youth group, and with whom I really started to grow up.

People like Tim, Helen, Gordon, Alan & Alison (okay, Boy and Girl!), Neil (miss you, my friend) Duncan & Colin, Jill (and later Malcolm) , Graham & Lynne (now in New Jersey), and the family to whom I am closest back in the UK, my dearest friends Mike, Cherry, Ben and Laurie.

If it hadn't been for that church move, I would never have met these people, which is what makes it a life-changing moment, and my life is all the richer for knowing these guys.

Next, two moments which are defintely the 2nd and third top life-changing moments in my life, and both of which happened relatively close together in the early 1980s.

First, was a meeting in Tonbridge with a guy called Steve Chalke. He was at the time a local junior Baptist church minister (pastor) with big ideas, and absolutely no knowledge of the word "impossible".

Steve dreamed up cool ideas for youth work in the town, one of which was a temporary cafe over Christmas raising funds for famine relief and run by the kids. Another was even more revolutionary, using temporary radio frequencies (although it started as a cable radio project) to broadcast locally in town for a month as a fully-fledged radio station, again in aid of famine relief.

This came the year after the cafe idea, and was in 1984, the year of "Band Aid" in the UK. It was called "Radio Christmas" and was cabled into all the town's stores for a month. I was a dj on that station, and together with it's nationwide launch on separate FM frequencies in towns all over the UK and Ireland as Radio Cracker in 1991, it is what propelled me into eventually taking up a career in radio. For that I will always be eternally grateful to Steve Chalke (who now is a household name on UK TV and who heads up Oasis Media).

Incidentally, it was also down to Steve that, as part of Oasis, I spent 8 life-changing months in Mumbai, India in 1992/3. Quite a guy!

That's the first two. Stay tuned for more...

Mosaic - by Amy Grant

Those who know me well will be aware that I've long been a fan of Amy Grant's work, stretching way back to my first album of hers, 1985's Unguarded.

That interest wasn't waned over the years, and so it's probably no surprise at all to hear that as a Christmas present to myself I bought her new book of writings, poetry, song lyrics and reminiscences, "Mosaic".

The book has been criticised by some because it doesn't deal adequately with Amy's somewhat controversial 1999 divorce from first husband Gary Chapman, but that is missing the point. This book is not, nor does it ever pretend to be, a Life Story. It is rather a collection of thoughts and memories, many of them intimate, many of them brilliantly insightful in a way that doesn't over-intellectualize, many amusing, and many which bring a lump to the throat.

Okay, like I say, I'm a fan. But there is still much I have learned from a book which I read this afternoon from cover to cover, virtually in one sitting.

I have always liked Amy's uncluttered approach to life, with total honesty, even if she is falling into a briar patch. It helps us all to feel that it's okay to be "human".

Mosaic will surprise you with a sudden spiritual depth, and it will probably happen when you least expect it, and it is most definitely worth delving into.

2007 - the year that was...

Well, this has been a huge year for me. The year when I packed up and left the UK and found a new home in Southern Oregon - and a new family.

It was a year when I discovered that God likes to surprise you - sometimes it's a nice surprise, sometimes...not so nice!

I had a six week wait to get my Social Security when I first arrived in April. During that time my life was pretty much on hold as I couldn't really do anything. No bank account, no cell phone, no drivers license.

It finally came, and I passed my drivers test 2nd time (well, we're none of us perfect!) on July 3rd. Yes, Independance Day truly was just that!

Got my cell phone around the same time and since then it's been no looking back. Just last week I successfully got my British passport renewed in Washington DC, and so I'm legal for another 10 years!

I have the best cell group ever, a really cool team of musicians around me at church, and a great working family at the DOVE.

I've been thinking to myself about how my dear old dad, who left this earth nearly 4 years ago now, would react if he thought I was now living here.

He always maintained that he hated America and Americans. He said that Americans were loud and brash, and didn't spell or pronounce words properly!! Mind you, he said that about a lot of nationalities!!

I always THOUGHT he was kidding - I'm pretty sure he was; I guess I'll not know for a while yet - and I'd like to think that actually he'd be pretty pleased that I uprooted and moved to a whole new culture and a whole new life. I think that's something he could be proud of, in his own way!

And a note to you Americans. I'm sure he'd LOVE you!

Peace; and here's to a great 2008.

My first U.S. Christmas

So my first Christmas in America turned out to be better than I could have possible imagined, and that's entirely down to the wonderful friends that God has blessed me with.

This morning I went to breakfast with Auntie Linda and her posse (Dan, Angie, their girls, Keri, Jesse and their family) and we hung out, watched some cool tv - including "A Christmas Story", and generally had a lovely Christmas morning.

I'm just back from seeing National Treasure 2 with another extended family; the Bowen's and the Holtz's and their inner circle. Great movie and great company.
I want to thank all the people who fall into the groupI've just mentioned for letting me into their families, and I also want to thank all those who have helped me feel at home these 8 months (to the day) I've been over here, including my Dove family.

Thank you all so much. I love you all, and God bless you.
Here's to 2008...!

Disappointment?

If there's one thing I've discovered over and over again that characterizes many people I know - some of them extremely well - it is that they are disappointed. They are living their life in a perpetual state of disappointment, with no end in sight.
It's mainly one of two things. Disappointment with the way their life pattern or career has turned out (or not turned out, as the case may be), or disappointment with themselves - perhaps the way they are, the way they look, or possibly with what they have done or failed to do.
If we were all honest we could probably point to at least one of these and identify closely with them, but how do we avoid dragging ourselves into a life in which the sense of "if only" is a dominating factor?
In the Bible, Jesus says that he has come that we may enjoy life to it's fullest extent (John 10 verse 10) and we have to somehow acknowledge that we will never live up to our own exacting expectations, let alone God's perfection, whilst still maintaining a positive outlook on life.
I may not know much, but I do know that disappointment sucks the life out of you until you are just a hollow shell, constantly looking back to the past and wondering what might have happened if....
Is that really the way you want to live?

Shadowlands

After some time, I've just watched Shadowlands again. It's the true story of how CS Lewis met an American divorcee, married her for convenience, and then realized he loved her, only to see her die of cancer some months later.
It's such a sad and touching story, but so beautifully acted by Antony Hopkins and Debra Winger.
Having just been a part of a Narnia experience, the things of Lewis are being brought back to me, and I don't think that the timing is any coincidence, as I've been struggling with a whole raft of issues; things about me I want to change: doubts, fears even, but Lewis' writings provide a firm foundation to perfectly complement Biblical truths and revelations.
It has always amazed me how Lewis was able to articulate some of the true mysteries of God in ways I could totally relate to, and I guess I've realized that alongside what I read in the Bible each day, I need more of a conduit between me and that sort of profundity, and that's what Lewis provides.
No earth-shattering conclusions here, just a resolve. Another starting point perhaps. On the journey that leads...somewhere.

Jacksonville Christmas Parade

The annual Christmas parade in Jacksonville is pretty much legendary, and this year the theme was A Victorian Christmas, so of course, I had to go!

It was a cold cold night, but 4 layers made sure I survived - plus they were giving out free apple cider, which never does any harm!!

The parade went all the way down the main street in J'ville, and included local choirs, dignitaries, organizations, school marching bands and other locally themed participants.

The whole thing was rounded off with Santa, who led the ceremonial tree lighting, but just before Santa came 2 of the more surreal parts of the parade. First a group of six victorian-dressed characters on segways - weird! - and then 8 llamas from the local farm. The Christmas llamas; who would have thunk it!