Category: Thoughts

I really don’t like Good Friday. I don’t like it because nobody else seems bothered. In some ways it is appropriate that people don’t care – they didn’t care when it happened.

Today, though, I won’t be able to settle to anything. I would prefer to be alone somewhere quiet but that isn’t so easy to do.I will be leading two services so that is perhaps the next best thing but I sometimes think we are so concerned about how its going to be done and who is doing what that we miss the impact of the day.

Today Jesus dies. See you on Easter Day.

Well, we’ve reached Maundy Thursday at last. Holy week is always a busy time for me  – not just because there are extra services to take but also because there are extra sermons to write, hymns to pick, service to prepare, etc. Even when much of the preparation has been done before the week there is still much to be done. Of course the extra services take their toll as well – I am always exhausted after taking a service – is this just me?

I wonder if Jesus felt the same. He did an awful lot in that last week. Lots of teaching, cleansing the temple, praying, etc. I suspect a large part of him was getting pretty nervous about what was coming but maybe he also felt relief that it had at last come.

It’s a trivial example but I don’t like certain things and don’t like when they are in my diary. There is something of a relief when the waiting is over and the event has come – it’s not that I like the event but also that the waiting can be as bad – if not worse – than actually facing the moment itself.

Although Jesus must have dreaded this day I think in some ways he was relieved when Judas finally set off to betray him.

I’ve written a new post on the Jesus Course blog about the crucifixion, see it here.

And he (Jesus) appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.
(Mark 3:14-15 ESV)

See my blog on the Jesus Course website

We probably all have something that we could improve about ourselves. Maybe you could work on your health, or maybe your realtionships, and of course you musn’t forget to work on your spiritual life. But whatever we choose to work on the secret to success is to set good goals for them.

I trained as a Life and Performance Coach and so goal setting is a passion of mine. It’s too easy to set a goal that is either too hard (and so you will never achieve it) or too easy (so you never feel motivated to work for it). People also set themselves unrealistic time targets and so get fed up when the time passes and things don’t seem to come together as was hoped.

So my suggestion to you would be to set goals and keep reviewing them (say every few days at first and then every week or so). If you don’t feel motivated by them it could be because they are so difficult to achieve that you are beaten before you even get going or maybe not difficult enough and so you just don’t care. Ask if you have given yourself enough time to achieve them (or maybe too much time). Can you picture yourself as having achieved the goal? And don’t forget to reward yourself for the good you achieve, small rewards will help keep you motivated for the bigger goals.

I also think it is important to understand that there is someone who is greater than you who is also willing you to succeed – namely God. If your goal is in line with God’s plans for you then you have a help that goes beyond your normal capacities. God wants us to be better than we are and has promised his help in getting us there. When you feel like a task is just too great to achieve then remember that God is on your side.

Here is my Christmas letter – for those who are interested.

2011 – Inside

2011 outside – Outside

Doing some nativity research I came across an article from last year written about Tony Jordan, the writer of the BBC’s nativity programme from last year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8210800/Tony-Jordan-interview-The-Nativity-has-changed-me-and-thats-the-gospel-truth.html

He says some interesting stuff and it confirms once again the truth that people are quite happy with Jesus but it seems they have issues with the church. I don’t agree that the church is responsible for twisting the story of Jesus but I do agree that to it’s shame the church has allowed some people in the past to use its message as a tool for gaining power over others – not Jesus’ way at all.

I also like the image of the preacher insisting you come into church and suffer the service after which he will let you have a glimpse of the Jesus in the bottle. I hope that isn’t the way I come across.

However, it does raise the point that Jesus was not given to the church but the church comes from Jesus. We don’t own Jesus and have exclusive rights to use his name. The church needs to learn to open its doors a little wider and open the bottle (as it were). We have been given a task and its main purpose was always to make Jesus known and not to become a hurdle that people need to climb over in order to find Christ. Sometimes it feels like the church is more concerned over protecting its copyright than getting Jesus into the public domain as it were.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for the church is to find a way to become the place people look for Jesus rather than being the last place people would choose to look. We can’t expect people to just accept this we must do all we can to make it happen.

About this time of year everyone tries to justify why they celebrate Christmas. I understand even the very vocal anti-Christian atheist Richard Dawkins likes to celebrate at Christmas.

I have to confess, though, that I stuggle with the idea of why any atheist would want to celebrate Christmas. Surely, even if you decide that Christmas is just a pagan festival it is still so full of religious imagery and ideas that any self-respecting atheist would want to avoid it.

Let’s think for a moment though about the festival. It is far from certain that the pagans first celebrated at this time of year, even the Romans didn’t have a festival this time of year till late on in their history (possibly even after Christians celebrated at Christmas although the evidence for this is circumstantial). All kinds of claims about pre-Christian mid-winter festivals are made but few can be backed up with hard evidence. However, even if we do say that the Pagans were the first in on the scene and that Christians took it over let’s think about what it is that we get at Christmas. Oh and by the way the tradition of giving presents at Christmas almost certainly comes from Christianity as does Saint Nicholas.

The Christian view of Christmas is a time for people to get together and celebrate the birth of Jesus. It involves singing carols and going to church. It involves thinking of others and spending time with people you love. It involves talking about peace and goodwill to all. Children are treated as special during this time and we talk about stuff that makes us happy, as well as paying particular attention to those who have less than we do. All this comes from the Christian celebration of Christmas.

The rest of it seems to have pagan origins and might I suggest that there is also plenty of non-religious stuff that gets added in for good measure. Things like overeating (Christianity teaches moderation), drinking too much, overspending on gifts people don’t need (granted the tradition of gift giving comes from Christians but it was never intended to involve over spending), commercialisation of everything to make us spend, etc.

Maybe Christians did take over the Christmas tree and Yule Log but what we gave such things was a meaning that speaks about the good news of God with us. Using a well known symbol as something that explains a good message is surely not wrong. I suspect if Christians hadn’t put such meaning to these things then they would have died out with the rest of the pagan stuff; like child sacrifice and religious prostitution.

Which one of these two Christmasses do you want?

It seems to me that the Christian view of Christmas is what we really want and not all the other stuff which we complain about all through Christmas and beyond. In my view you just can’t have a proper Christmas without Christ. If I had to lose anything about Christmas it would be the commercialisation of it – in essense all that non-religious and pagan stuff that gets in the way of the real celebrations. What would Christmas be if left to the atheists? More spending and more guilt no doubt – not for me I’m afraid.

You can’t have a proper Christmas without Christ I’m afraid.

The news about the M5 crash came to us all in the area as a terrible shock. Those of us who regularly use that stretch of the motorway were reminded of just how dangerous it can sometimes be. My own experience of that junction is not a good one – witnessing many near misses there.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been bereaved and injured. Words aren’t enough at such times but I, together with the people from the Taunton Methodist churches, care very much about what has happened and are deeply concerned for those who have suffered. You are all in our prayers.

There is going to be a vigil in the Sainsburies car part near the site of the accident on Friday (11th) at 8pm.