Thank the Lord for winter

I'm reading a cracking book at the moment: Grace People by Michael Baughen. In it he traces God's covenants from Genesis right through Scripture. So I've recently been thinking about the 'Creation covenant' in Genesis 8 v 22:

'As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.'

I've always loved the seasons, because they're such a physical reminder of God's faithfulness. They also mean that Harvest and Christmas and Easter keep coming round again, like old friends, with all the fantastic opportunities they provide to thank God and tell others about Him.

But it suddenly occurred to me this week that God's creation covenant means I should also be thankful for the nights getting longer, evenings darker and clocks soon to change. This is a tricky time of year for me, especially since my depression is back in deep measure (which is why this is my first blog for two months). As winter comes, I and many other depressives fear that our minds will grow darker too. But the coming darkness can be a reminder as well - that God is keeping His promise to all creation. Until that wonderful day when Jesus returns, 'summer and winter, day and night will never cease'. How good to be reminded of the faithfulness of our God!

Mirror, mirror

What does it mean to be made 'in the image of God'? (Genesis 1 v 27) I recently read that this means that God's people are to be like mirrors, reflecting God's image to the world around us.

* What is God like? - look at His people to see His reflection.
* How does God feel about poverty, or greed, or injustice? - look to see how Christians react.
* What matters most to God? - look to see how His people spend their time and money.

In children's and youth work, I'm always trying to help people to be Bible-centred - to teach God's Word faithfully, and to allow it to shape the way we work with young people. But our 'teaching' must be matched by our 'reflecting'. Paul taught this to a young leader nearly 2000 years ago:

'Watch your life and doctrine closely.' 1 Timothy 4 v 16

It's just as true today. What kind of mirror are you? What kind of mirror am I?

Character building

There's an interesting article on the BBC news website at the moment about whether it's possible to build character. You can read it here.

The assumption of the article goes as follows:

'What makes people do the right thing rather than the wrong one? What makes us bad or good? The answer is a mixture of our genes, our parents and our peers - these are the ingredients of our character.'

Hmm... Doesn't that imply that we are not responsible for any flaws we may exhibit? It's not our fault - it's our genes, parents, friends... The Bible says otherwise. My pride, selfishness and laziness all grow from my sinful nature. But wonderfully, God is at work in His people, by His Spirit, to make them more like His Son.

'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.' Galatians 5 v 22-23

Now that's what I call character building!

The three groanings

I've just been doing some typesetting for Explore Bible reading notes. I found the following comments on Romans 8 v 18-27 so inspiring, that I had to copy them here!

Paul is inviting believers to stop concentrating on present problems and fix their sights instead on future glory. That’s where the three groanings come in—they are not grumbling kind of groanings, but longing-for-glory groanings.

CREATION GROANS (v19-22)
The creation around us is in a terrible state. Man’s sin has ruined what was created perfect. It is groaning in pain, like a woman in childbirth (v 22). But why is it groaning like this? Because it is longing for the future. Even the creation is straining its neck, eager for the time of freedom and glory for the sons of God (v 19, 21). The groans are evidence that glory is ahead!

BELIEVERS GROAN (v23-25)
Of course we aren’t perfectly happy yet. We’re not yet in full possession of the salvation that is ours! We must wait patiently, expectantly, confidently (that’s what ‘hope’ means, v 24). Christians have the ‘firstfruits’ (v 23)—the Holy Spirit in us is the down payment of the full harvest; but we groan in painful longing to know the full glory and freedom of sons of God.

HOLY SPIRIT GROANS (v26-27)
In struggling we’re actually in tune with the Spirit of God! If we think we should be on cloud nine all the time we’ve got it wrong—the Holy Spirit is groaning along with us as we struggle in prayer, hardly knowing how to cope and what to pray in our sin-soaked environment. He understands, He helps us, He secures God’s approval of our feeble cries. But it won’t be too hard—pray through v 18 until you agree!

Isn't that brilliant - and SO encouraging! You can find out more about Explore Bible-reading notes here.

A new identity

Today I got a new computer. A MAC Mini - very yum. The good news is that it came with different software than I've used before - and suddenly I can do exciting things like adding bold or italics to my blogs (my previous machine didn't let me do this for some reason).

But sadly, although my Mini MAC is new to me, it's not really new. One of my colleagues has been using it for months. And (again for a reason I don't fully grasp) we can't change the identity on it. So... every time I log in... instead of logging in as Alison, I now have to log in as Andre!

Hmm... It makes me glad that my identity in Christ isn't so fickle.

'Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.' 2 Corinthians 1 v 21-22

So... I guess I may have to get used to being called 'Andre' - but I'm thrilled that my relationship with God through Christ is certain and sure for all time.

Curse or cure?

This may be a well-worn way of explaining Jesus' death on the cross - but I came across it the other day, and hadn't heard it before, so thought it might be new to you, too.

When Jesus died on the cross, He was cursed:
'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." ' Galatians 3 v 13

But we can get rid of the 'S' from curse, because Jesus defeated 'S'atan and dealt with 'S'in. As a result, Jesus becomes our cure. If we put our trust in Jesus, He makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be friends with God.

The name 'Jesus' is often used as a swear word, a curse. But He came to die, to cure us from the results of our sin.
What is Jesus for you? Curse or cure?

How (not) to be me

I'm currently preparing a training seminar on 'How to be a great team member'. Unfortunately, when I tried to save my work on my trusty computer, it decided that this was too long a title to save - so it changed it to 'How to be a great team me'! After I'd stopped chortling, it struck me that this new title summed up exactly what I do NOT want to say:

• The danger when training is to unintentionally give the impression that people need to be just like me if they want to be great children's workers. If someone goes away thinking, 'I'll never be as good a storyteller as Alison', then I've failed.
• The great thing about teams is that everyone is different. Between us we bring a wide range of gifts and experience, that no one leader can have.

So here's a question to ponder (whether you're a team leader, team member, or both):
? What are some of the things that a team member can do, that a team leader can't?
Then take your answers and use them to thank and encourage anyone who works in a team with you.

A chat about coffins

Have you designed your coffin yet? An article from this week's BBC News magazine looks at the latest options for personalised coffins - bright colours, stickers, photos or even a bespoke coffin in the shape of your favourite thing (tram? plane? piano?). The article is fascinating - and so are the reader's comments afterwards. Most focus on the here and now, and how a personalised coffin can help turn a funeral into a celebration of someone's life. Only a couple raise the question of what happens after death.

This could be a great discussion starter - with your youth group, or maybe just over a coffee with your mates. What do they think of the idea of decorating coffins? Would they do it, and if so what designs or shapes would they choose? What would they want their coffin to say about the life they have lived? You could print out some of the reader's comments, and ask if they agree or not, and why? Why do they think almost all the comments focus on here and now, rather than what happens after death? Whether you then leave the subject open, for people to muse on, or choose to develop it further is up to you. Christians have a certain hope that death is not the end, and that we have a wonderful future in the new creation to look forward to. Maybe a chat about coffins will give you an opportunity to explain this further.

You can read the article, and reader's comments, here.

Changing Sunday School - Mission Impossible?

God has created us to have imagination, curiosity and the ability to learn new things - so why are we so resistent to CHANGE??!!

• I met with a youthworker yesterday who is struggling to fit growing groups into a church building that stubbornly refuses to get any bigger. It's a problem that needs creative thinking, and a willingness by all involved to consider new ways of doing Sunday School. But the biggest problem isn't the building - it's leaders who don't want to change.

• I get regular phone calls from ministers wanting help in choosing teaching material for their church's children's work. I can make suggestions of good material to look at, but as the discussion progresses it usually turns out that at least one leader is refusing to consider using anything new.

• Today I was recommended a book by Doug Field. While checking out his website, I came across his comments about changing Sunday School, and they certainly rang a bell. As he says, 'Most youth workers couldn't change the format of Sunday School if they brought a written note from Jesus himself.'

Why are we so scared of change? Sometimes the problem is fear - as with the children's worker who doesn't want to move to a smaller room because he's scared his group will get bored if he can't play running around games with them. Sometimes the problem is time and energy - changing to different teaching material may mean more time in preparation, at least initially. Sometimes we're just stuck in a rut, doing things the way they've always been done. (I was once involved with a Sunday School that set out a table at the front every week, with two candles and a faded picture of Jesus - it was like a mini altar! They'd done it that way for the past 30 years (maybe the picture was bright when they started) and flatly refused to change.)

Change can be both good and bad. Changing things for the sake of it may just waste time and resources better used elsewhere. But we must always be ready to change for the sake of our ministry with young people. We must be willing to change plenty - the venue, the name, the timing, the programme, the age range, the music - if those changes help us to teach God's Word faithfully and reach out to those who don't know Him. We must also be ready to refuse to change - when we're pressurised to drop the Bible-study and replace it with games. Our priority should be to teach God's Word faithfully, to the Christians and non-Christians in our groups; to show God's love and care to them; to model in our own lives what it is to live wholeheartedly for Christ; and to pray fervently for the children and young people in our care. These things we should stick to like supaglue. All else is open to change.

Brushing up on your Bible reading

I once heard a speaker say that reading your Bible every day is like brushing your teeth - you don't always feel like it, but you do it because you know it's good for you. Do you agree? Or does this dismiss Bible reading as mundane and boring?

Should we be bored when we read God's Word? Not at all. This is the Living Word of the Creator God, through which He reveals Himself to us. That's awesome!

Are we sometimes bored, though? Most of us, if we're honest, would have to say Yes. Daily Bible reading is a discipline many of us struggle with. Which is why I find the brushing teeth analogy helpful, because I know it's good for me to do it daily. If you don't brush, your teeth rot. If you don't read your Bible, your spiritual life starts to rot, too.

BUT
I've found the answer to boring battles with the toothbrush. I now have an electric toothbrush which rotates, vibrates and even tells me when my two minutes are up. Brushing my teeth has become FUN!!! :)

So... the question is... what's the Bible-reading equivalent of an electric toothbrush? If we truly believe spending time daily in God's Word is vital, but we struggle to actually do it, are there things that can help? Here are a few I've tried:
1. There's a wide range of Bible-reading notes out there, so I like to try something new occasionally - but do look for something that will help you engage with the Bible text, rather than just share a few thoughts.
2. Reading big chunks at a time. (This is easiest in a lighter translation such as The Message, rather than the ESV!) I prefer to read through whole Bible books anyway, to get the full picture of what that book is saying.
3. Try using children's or family notes. (Yes, I'm serious!) If the notes handle the Bible well, they'll still point you to the main point of the passage, and you'll certainly have fun! When I do this, I like to also use it as a prompt to pray for any children and/or families I know who are using the same material. I do this every year with the Advent Packs we produce at Good Book, and pray for the families in the UK and beyond who are doing the same.
4. If you're up for a challenge, why not commit yourself to reading through the whole Bible in a year? (Are there parts of the Bible you've never read??) In my own experience, the best way to do this is to get others involved too - either a group of you all committing to the same thing, or asking others to check up on you. I once told 400 people in a New Year service that I was going to read the whole Bible that year, and asked them to check I did it. That worked a treat!
5. Read it with someone else, rather than just on your own, and then discuss and pray about what you've read.
6. Instead of an electric toothbrush, how about an electronic Bible? If the fun of reading a passage online, via your PC or on a palm pilot will help you keep doing it, then go for it. You can get lots of electronic Bible helps too, with maps, dictionaries etc.
7. Be honest with God that's you're finding it hard, and ask Him to help. He will.
8. Read it while cleaning your teeth. (OK, I haven't really done that one - I was just checking to see if you'd read to the end of the blog.)

Mystery mnemonic

My boss decided to while away a few moments yesterday - this was the result:
Being faithful, God freed captive believers hardening low-down Pharaoh.

What is it you ask??? Yes, that is indeed the question! It's designed to be a helpful mnemonic - but can you work out what it's supposed to help you remember?
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.
.
Need a clue?
Which crucial Bible event does it refer to?
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.
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Need another clue?
There are ten words in the phrase. Can you think of ten cataclysmic things linked with this Bible event?
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Want the answer?
It's a way of remember the Ten Plagues in order:
Being Faithful, God Freed Captive Believers Hardening Low-Down Pharaoh.
=
Blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Cattle, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Passover.

Aren't you glad you know that?!

News at Teen

If you're a youth or children's leader, stop for a moment and think of three words that sum up your group...

Now compare those words with the ways young people are increasingly represented in the news:
'A study published recently by Brunel University analysed how youngsters appeared in more than 2,000 television news programmes over a month and found a very bizarre picture. In 82% of news stories featuring young people, they appeared either as the perpetrators or the victims of crime, usually involving violence. For the non-crime stories, the most typical reason for showing a young person was as a celebrity.'

I wonder if you came up with 'thug', 'victim' or 'celebrity'. No? But that's how most young people are portrayed these days.

The quote above comes from a BBC News report , which goes on to say:
'The author and social commentator, Frank Furedi, sees this anxiety-ridden depiction of teenagers as a sign of deeper fault lines in society ... When all other adults and other people's children are seen as a threat, he says it means that the adult generation withdraws from any contact with young people - and bringing up children is "privatised" to the parents. Without any communication between the generations, adults become fearful and distant towards the youngsters hanging around, he says. In return, young people grow up starved of the influence of adults. "It means that adults are leaving the life of children. It's completely unnatural." '

If young people are increasingly growing up 'starved of the influence of adults', that makes our role as youth and children's leaders so important. I see two challenges here - to ourselves as leaders, in a position to 'influence' young people and with a resonsibility to do this well, and also to find ways to introduce other adults in our church or neighbourhood to the young people we know and love, so that they can see that they're not all thugs, victims or celebrities!

Eggciting

The following is an Easter idea I was given by a schools worker years ago. It works well with children, but could also be easily adpated for use with teens. You need an eggbox with six Kinder eggs in it (the plastic clip-together inserts – you can eat the chocolate!). The eggs are hidden around the room. You ask the children to find one egg at a time, at which point you open it and find what’s hidden inside it – then put the egg in the eggbox. I no longer have the original list of contents, so here’s one I’ve made up (I’ve suggested more than six, so that you can choose the ones you prefer):

• Nails (Jesus was nailed to a cross of wood and left there to die)
• Strip of cloth (The cloth that was wrapped round His body)
• Empty (A reminder of the empty tomb)
• 'Happy Easter’ sticker (The resurrection and why we celebrate it)
• Sad face (How Jesus’ friends and families felt on Good Friday)
• Crown (Jesus was God’s promised King, but He wore a crown of thorns)
• Dice (The soldiers played dice to get the cloth Jesus wore)
• Mini Scroll (These things happened exactly as God has said they would)

You don’t know which order the eggs will be found in, so you adlib accordingly. Then show all the eggs again at the end, in a helpful order, to summarise what you’ve been teaching. The eggs and contents will be quite small of course – if you have a large group, maybe you could use an OHP to throw up the silhouettes of what you’ve found so that the children can see/guess what they are.

Show and tell

Do you like browsing for good ideas? Do you have material of your own that you think others might like to use, too? If so, the Show and Tell website is a good place to look. It's a place where people who are committed to teaching the Bible faithfully to children and young people send their ideas and teaching material so that the rest of us can grab them. The site is run by very busy volunteers - so it's not updated as often as they'd like - but there's some cracking stuff there. Do check it out.

Heard any good talks recently?

If not, there are some cracking ones available from our latest Bible-Centred Youthworker Conference. There's Mark Ashton on Romans 1 - 3; Trevor Pearce on learning from the life of Paul; and a host of terrific seminars for both children's and youth leaders. You can download them all from here. Enjoy!

Mapping it all out

When we teach Bible stories, we want the children and young people to know that they are historical truth - about real people who lived in real places at a real time. That's why I'm a great fan of using Bible timelines to help young people see WHEN a story happened, and Bible maps to show WHERE it happened. Maps can also be of great help to us as we prepare a passage - often helping us to understand the flow of a narrative. So I was delighted a couple of weeks ago when a colleague told me about a new web tool, that uses Google Maps and Google Earth to help us explore the geography of the Bible. There's masses of fun stuff you can do, like zooming in on the details, plotting the distances between cities to find out the length of Paul's missionary journeys or overlaying modern satelite images with ancient maps. And it's all free! You can find out all about it here. Have fun!

Food for thought

Sorry I didn't write a blog last week - I was off having fun on our annual Bible-Centred Youthworker Conference. This week one of the guys from that conference sent me his newsletter. He has kindly allowed me to quote two chunks from it - thanks Matt! I won't add any comments to them. I found his thoughts very stimulating - and hope you will too.

'How does one pursue a career in which a central quality is meekness of spirit?  How does one be ambitious about a calling which asks us to die to self?  How does one be a leader of men when one's motive should be motivated by servant-hood?  How can one strive for success in a field where complete dependence on God is required?  Actually these statements should and do apply to everyone who considers themselves a follower of Jesus.  We are all called to minister with our lives no matter our occupation.  However, these questions are particularly applicable and difficult for me who finds himself called to ministry in the traditional sense.  How much should my current activities be motivated by a desire to be qualified and successful? We live in a world where employers look just as hard at the resume-CV of those aspiring to be pastors as to medical doctors.  Every resume expert will tell you to speak as glowingly as you can about yourself without actually lying.  They will say to use exciting adjectives such as: passionate, motivated, creative, enthusiastic, imaginative, organized, dynamic, inspirational, bursting with ideas, exceptional.  And if you think this doesn't apply to pastors, these adjectives were all taken directly from advertisements for ministry-workers at the back of a Christian magazine I looked at recently.'

and...

'It's amazing how long someone can be a Christian, how many times one can have read the Bible, and how many classes one can have taken, and yet still be at a quite elementary level faith-wise.  My guess is that much that looks like the growth of a Christian is really more growth into the culture of Christianity, or growth into deeper head-knowledge of your particular church's beliefs, rather than actually growing closer to God and growing to trust Him more moment by moment.'

Our Father knows us

Yesterday morning, the leader of our service took an unusual approach to a classic youth activity. Have you ever played the game where five or six young people line up behind a blanket, with just one foot poking out below the blanket - and someone has to guess who each foot belongs to? This was the same idea, but with slits cut in a sheet so that hands could be poked through. The lovely thing was that the leader then asked for half a dozen Dads to come up with their children. The Dads lined up nervously, while their children hid behind the sheet and each popped through one small hand. Could each Dad recognise their own child's hand? Would anyone get it wrong? It was a tense moment...

Thankfully, each Dad spotted his own child and all was well - but two of them looked mightily relieved! The service leader then made a link between human Dads and our heavenly Father - how He knows and cares for each one of us.

It was a great activity. One I shall doubtless 'borrow' at some point. You may like to as well. And what a lovely reminder that, even if a Dad had felt that one little hand looked much like another, that our heavenly Father made us, knows us, loves us. 'Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head (and hand!) are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.' Luke 12v6-7

The curious incident of the wasp in the night-time

A few nights ago - at exactly one minute past midnight - my bed was dive-bombed by a large, loud wasp, seemingly unaware that it shouldn't be awake in early January. Half an hour, and a variety of implements, later, the wasp was still refusing to leave my bedroom. It attached itself firmly to a rug hanging on the wall, and wouldn't budge. I ended up lifting the rug off the wall, carrying it out of my flat, down two flights of stairs and into the road - where I then had to beat it for several more minutes before the wasp deigned to fly off. (I was beating the rug, not the wasp!).

The thing that struck me was what an impact this wasp had on me. It was late, dark and cold - I was tired and in bed - but I sprang into action. I never considered giving up - I knew I couldn't go back to sleep while the wasp was still above my bed.

In my years as a Schools' Worker, as I visited up to 20 schools a week, I noticed a definite trend in January. Many of the teachers had come back to school tired. The Christmas term had been long, the Christmas 'holiday' was hardly restful, and there were bugs aplenty waiting to be caught. As a result, schools were full of tired and stressed teachers. Maybe that's how you're feeling too? The pre-Christmas rush of special events and evangelistic opportunities is fantastic - but also draining. Maybe you then had a busy, family-filled, non restful Christmas - plus a wee bug to keep you company! Now you're starting a new term, but feeling tired and perhaps struggling to find your full enthusiasm for your ministry.

It might be that you genuinely need more rest, in which case see if you can build in a couple of days off. But otherwise, ask God to show you what would help stir you into action. (What's your 'wasp'??) Meeting up with others to plan an upcoming session, rather than doing it on your own? Inviting someone for coffee and to pray for each member of your group? Reading a challenging, encouraging book? Downloading a talk* that will spark your thinking? For me, it was praying with the rest of the team just before leading our group on Sunday morning - that's what sparked me back to full enthusiam for the children we were about to serve. As people who 'hope in the Lord', let us ask God to help us to 'run and not grow weary' (Isaiah 41v31).

* One suggestion for helpful listening would be the main talks and seminars from last year's Bible-Centred Youthworker Conference. These are all available for free download here.