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It’s dark; dingy; loud and until recently smoky. It would probably scare the heck out of most people, but its home to me. I’m a Music Photographer and so I spend a lot of my evenings at various gigs in clubs and pubs around London, I specifically shoot Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music. I fell in love with the genre of music shortly after leaving school and I suppose it was inevitable that, once I’d taken up photography, I would end up combining two of my passions.

Both photography and music make me feel alive and when I’m standing in front of the stage capturing the band as they strut their stuff… it just feels amazing. The challenge comes in shooting under the coruscating, scintillating lights; they can change dramatically in the second between me seeing a great shot and depressing the shutter release.
 
I know God gave me this talent and the love of music and I’d love to see Him move within an industry that is full of drugs, alcohol and occult symbolism.
 
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William’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact him, follow this photo@dkphotography.biz, you can also view more of his work on his website.

Mobilise Worldwide teams are all about seeing a generation of students and twenties caught up in God's global plan to see His church serving in every nation! Teams are sent for a few weeks to stay amongst a group of church planters who are livng out Jesus' mission to call the lost home.

Mobilise Mission Trips 2012 will be going to;

Istanbul, Turkey (June 23rd - July 4th) - FULL

The Hague, Netherlands (18th-27th August)

The team will be going out to be with Redeemer International Church. They will be learning from the church planting team on the ground, praying around the city and serving alongside the church as they engage with students and prepare for the year ahead….time will be spent eating with the church, bike tours, regular outreach in The Hague…‘treasure hunting’, ‘normal evangelism’, fun outreach on the beach, international meal and BBQ, serving in the Sunday services and in the prayer meeting and inviting people to Alpha!

Cost: £295 (plus money for food)

FAQ’s

Who are Mobilise Worldwide Teams for?
You! If you’re a student/in your twenties, love Jesus and want to see and be part of, what God is doing through His church around the world!

What will I be involved in as part of the team?
Here’s a link to a blog that Martin who’s leading the team wrote for the Christ Church London website. 

How do I apply?
Simply download, complete and return the application form, along with a £50 deposit (cheques payable to Newfrontiers) by Friday May 25th.

What does the team fee cover?
Team fees cover:
Training (Team training day on June 7th in London)
Flights
Bed and Breakfast
Medical and Flight Insurance (best to get your own personal belongings insurance)

What do I need to take with me?
You will be given a kit list at the training day, but it will just be the usual you would take on holiday!

When do I need to pay by?
The fee needs to be paid in full by Friday July 20th.

When it’s too dangerous for a victim of trafficking to return home, Justice and Care believes in going beyond basic repatriation

MAY 2012: Children who have been trafficked are often pushed to their fate by a complex set of circumstances. One main cause is a broken home. Just rescuing these children is not enough. It leaves them with no alternative than to return to the same environment that made them vulnerable in the first place. We believe in going beyond.

When we rescued Lekha* in July 2011 she had been in the brothel for 4 days. She had been sold to a pimp by her step-sister and had been forced to have sex with men who came to the brothel.

Lekha was traumatised by what had happened to her, but her need for time to recover was overshadowed by the desperate situation her family was in. She would burst into tears when she told our aftercare associates about her nine-year-old brother. Her mother had severe mental problems and there was no one to look after him. The children’s father had deserted the family years ago.

It’s not difficult to understand that sending Lekha back to her village was too dangerous. Her step-sisters’ family lived close by and could exact revenge on her for testifying against her. We needed to do what we could not just for her, but also for her family. We supported Lekha’s mother with finances and brought her brother’s case before the Children’s Magistrate (the Child Welfare Committee) to find a good place for him to be cared for. Her brother, who had never been registered in school before, is about to start school classes for the first time this June. Our team is following up with Lekha’s mother regularly.

And Lekha herself can start to get better, resting in the knowledge that her family is being cared for. She has started taking lessons in reading and writing at the shelter home and will begin a Home Nursing course soon.
*Name changed to protect identity

 

Every so often I have a great opportunity to plug into something exciting that I just stumble over by accident, as it were. This happened to me recently when I was invited to join The Cinnamon Network, based in London.

What a strange name, I hear you thinking. I had a same thought too!

Let me explain what it is…

In 2010, a group of Christian businessmen and charity leaders met at the Cinnamon Restaurant in central London to discuss something important: they were wondering what the best response of the churches was to the newly unveiled Government idea called ‘the Big Society’. I’ve written about this before, as attentive readers of this blog will remember.
One of the key architects of the idea was Nat Wei – a London-based Christian entrepreneur who had influenced Prime Minister David Cameron. Nat later became an official Government spokesman for a time and he was ennobled, becoming Lord Wei.

Nat had urged the group meeting in the restaurant to consider a robust church response to ‘the Big Society’ – and so it was that the Cinnamon Network was formed. It has become an informal network of the leaders of many of Britain’s most significant social action charities: everyone from Tearfund to CAP, from Trussell Foodbanks to GB JobClubs, from Care for the Family to Street Pastors, and many more. They also decided to have denominational representatives, so I was invited to attend in that capacity.

I have just come back from one of their meetings – and I have been inspired.

Matt Bird, the leader of the Cinnamon Network, has identified their strategy. They want to support and enhance the work of major Christian charities so that they can empower local churches to bring social transformation to their communities. To do this, they have been encouraging the franchise model so that local churches can easily take on social impact projects with the support of the national charities. Here are a few examples of ideas which are really catching on all over the country: Street
Pastors, food banks, debt advice centres and job clubs. Dozens and dozens of each of these have opened up in the past few years… The Church is on the move!

The Cinnamon Network is also talking directly to the Government on behalf of these charities. This ensures that the voice of the Church is being heard in Government. Ministers are beginning to realise what a big player the Church is, and can be, in community transformation.

We heard some good news at the recent meeting. The Government has made finances available to churches working with these charities to set up new projects or franchises. In fact, there are 150 grants of £2,000 currently available to any church that is setting up a new base for a recognised franchise.

If you are interested, check out the details on www.communityfranchising.net.

Good news, isn’t it?

As a textile designer who specialises in weave, I carefully choose the yarn (material, colour, weight, function) to be woven into my fabrics. Each and every yarn has been chosen with thought. It is hard not to believe that there is a creator when the universe is beautiful beyond words. Behind every design, there is a designer. The world is God’s creation; everything, from the skies to the flowers, is designed by Him.

Sometimes we tend to associate God’s glory with the big and flashy things, and forget that the glory of God is also in the everyday. Everywhere we go, we can see examples of intelligent design, and that in itself is a glimpse of the glory of God. Through my works, I hope to capture and show the beauty of God’s creations to people. 
 
This collection of woven fabrics is based on the idea of instant metamorphosis; when we have an encounter with one of those moments - the very instant we are captivated and overwhelmed, our hearts are touched, our minds renewed, and we change.
 
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Wei Lin’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact her, follow this dextrophobic_@hotmail.com.

Just over a year ago (and so much has happened in that year!) King’s launched a new site in Downham, partnering with an existing Newfrontiers church. King’s adopted this church on a large south London estate and replanted it as a part of our move to becoming a multi-site church. It is extremely exciting to see the site flourish - just a few weeks ago three people become Christians on one Sunday and seven others responded to a call for baptism. So much has happened in such a short time - a church which had struggled a little over recent years is now healthy and growing!

On this journey we have been helped by the wisdom and experience of Jim Tomberlin from the States, an expert in the multi-site movement and now someone we consider a friend! He and Warren Bird have recently written a new book on the subject of churches that merge to become more effective. Called Better Together - Making Church Mergers Work, I was asked to give a review/recommendation – this is what I wrote:

‘Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird have provided the church with a visionary and practical book from which, if many churches could embrace it with real humility, the kingdom impact could be huge. Whether you lead a thriving church or are involved in one that is struggling, I commend this book to you.’

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Together-Mergers-Jossey-Bass-Leadership/dp/1118131304

My name is Tatyana Marsh and I am an aspiring photographer. I seek to capture beauty in urban landscapes by shooting from the point of view of an observer

I look for interesting angles on familiar scenes. There is something fascinating about being in the crowd but not being a part of it and thinking that He is the visible image of invisible God; all creation speaks of his beauty and might. Capturing that is a powerful thing that people can experience when looking at your photographs.

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Tanya’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact her, follow this tatyana.marsh@gmail.com, you can also view more of her work on her flickr account.

You've asked for them! Here are all the interviews from Mobilise 2012. Be inspired to go to the nations, to get church planting, to get stuck into leadership and most importantly if you'd prefer a swan's head on a human body or a human head on a swan's body?

Christians should feel tense: the difference between what you want and what’s happening, the sense of being pulled in two directions at once. Paul shows this throughout 2 Corinthians and his other writings, and in this passage particularly in verses 2, 4, 5, and 8. This is eschatological tension, tension between the present and the future.

Paul uses several metaphors to describe this, I’ve highlighted two of them:

• Verses 1 – 2. Our bodies are presently like tents (weak, temporary) but will be replaced with buildings (strong, eternal) when we die. It’s better to be in a building than a tent, but for now we’re in the tent.
• Verse 5. The down payment of the Holy Spirit. Like a lick of the spoon whilst the cakes are baking, He touches us with God’s love as a sign of what eternal closeness to God will be like. These wonderful moments are glimpses of a better future. The word Paul used is still used in Greek to mean “engagement ring” – another example of the “now and not yet” tension of being a Christian.

We have to understand this or we’ll make one of two mistakes when we feel this tension:

• Denying the future, refusing to believe that more of the Kingdom of God can be brought into the present. This attitude may have come about because of Britishness, or disappointment (Proverbs 13:12).
• Denying the present, refusing to acknowledge that the Kingdom hasn’t fully come yet.

How Paul encourages us to live with tension.

1. Groan. Jesus did this plenty of times when confronted with cruel enemies, foolish followers, and the horrors of the cross. We weep when sad things happen, we get angry at injustice – but we don’t finish there. An anticipatory groan ends on a high note – because that’s where we’re headed. This is the realism and hope of Christianity, it’s what motivates us to make a difference wherever we are.
2. Walk by faith. I’ve never seen Jesus, I believe He is alive for all sorts of good reasons, and so I believe that there is a glorious eternal future for all who put their trust in Him. I can’t see that yet, but it determines how I live right now. God is looking for people who trust Him, who take steps which require His intervention to succeed. If you’re faithful with a little, God will give you more.
3. Please God. A day of judgement is coming when our actions and attitudes will be revealed and rewarded/rebuked as appropriate by Jesus. Paul wanted lots of good things to talk about with Jesus, so he found out what pleased God (that’s one of the things our Bibles are for) and did them. Are you living to please yourself, others around you, or Almighty God?

All this put together: the hopeful groaning, faith-focused living, aiming to please Him, this is courageous living in the present age. Courage isn’t making the right choice without any fear, it’s acknowledging the fear and making the right choice anyway. Followers of Jesus do this because our great Leader did that for us, and now lives in us to empower us to do the same. The tension still aches, the glorious new age has begun but not yet fully come – but today it’s another day closer.

Questions for discussion

• What was the most memorable thing from the preach for you?
• Was Luke right to say that Christians should feel tension? What makes you agree, or disagree with that statement?
• Are you more of a future denier (miserable, cynical) or a present denier (naive)? What tempts us to these extremes and how can we resist them?
• Is “Groaning” the weirdest application point you’ve ever heard? What did Luke mean by that?
• What does living by faith and not be sight look like (if you’ll pardon the pun)? Do you have some examples of this you can share, and some challenges ahead? Pray for one another about these, that God would grow what we sow.
• The “Judgement Seat of Christ” (verse 10, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:14-15) isn’t something we often talk about often but it’s obviously very important.  What does this mean for Christians, and how should it motivate us?
• What are you going to think/do differently as a result of this?

Redefining Marriage part 3

In my final post in this series, I want to outline some of the issues that make many Christians very nervous about the Government’s current plans to redefine marriage.

The basis point is very simple. The institution of marriage as the lifelong commitment of one man and one woman has been considered the basis for a healthy society throughout modern history. This view is based, in large measure, on the influence of the Church in its assertion that this is a divine plan for humanity. Marriage is something created for mankind by God irrespective of specific religious faith.

In the contemporary world, the Church has to argue this point in a democratic context. It has no automatic right to impose this view on society, but it can advocate it strongly. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the traditional view of marriage is positive for society. For example, it is well known that marriages tend to be much more stable than co-habiting relationships. The Church advocates marriage as a public commitment (with societal implications) rather than a private arrangement (co-habitation). Also, much evidence suggests that stable marriages are the best environment within which to raise children. This is particularly important at a time when social breakdown is rife and many children do not have a stable home.

In a wider context, the Church has been at the forefront in supporting and building up the institution of marriage. This has been a notable feature of the evangelical Church in particular – marriage and parenting initiatives abound. The Church is constantly persuading co-habiting couples to ‘tie the knot’. Also, the Church is at the forefront of divorce recovery programmes and support.

There is room for civil partnership is our pluralistic society, granting gay and lesbian couples appropriate legal protections and rights. However, the vast majority of people are heterosexual. For them, the definition of marriage really matters in terms of shaping their expectations of relationships and family life. The maintenance and indeed strengthening of a robust heterosexual and monogamous definition of marriage will support all other efforts to build a strong society.

If the Government is successful in its plans then the key issues won’t go away. The church will continue to devote itself to upholding and supporting heterosexual marriage as a key contribution to building a healthy society and reversing the trend towards marital and family breakdown.

If I’m preaching elsewhere on a Sunday I will receive a text message from a staff member at Kings at the end of the day which gives me the numbers of people who attended and the numbers of responses – all this comes in as I drive back.  I’m motivated that way.  Some of my team think that at my funeral people will say, ‘Well… Steve would have been pleased, you know, because we’ve done the count.  There were 415 at the funeral …’
I believe if we’re going to impact a nation we have to be intentional about mission. I live in a big city with 250,000 people in the borough of Lewisham alone, so King’s needs to reach thousands of people.  I don’t know many pastors who say ’I want my church to be smaller’ - in the end it’s about having a heart for people - you must prioritise growth and mission right up front and this will impact your Sunday programme. 
We know that historically our church grows most in September and January - we have also had times when we’ve grown very fast and the usual trend has gone out of the window.  We build what we’re doing on Sundays around that knowledge.  We plan quite far ahead and we aim to be Spirit-led too!  So in September we have a Vision Sunday and prior to that date a personal letter goes out from me to everyone in the church and also to everyone who’s visited the church in the last 12 months, inviting them to come along for the Vision Sunday.  I sign a lot of invitation letters in the run-up to those particular Sundays!
I find there is a need to repeat our vision to the church - time and time again - this is very important because people often just don’t get it first time – or the second!  So I keep telling the story and explain why we do what we do, keeping the vision before the people - constantly.  

Lightmodulator is a series of projects by architect Nick Rich which work with light and the phenomena of moments in time where light and the materials it lands on or passes through create magical transformations of space. His initial research has been to understand the sun's movement and the changing quality of light it gives.

The Sun-Space Modulator

In the ‘sun-space modulator’ sunlight is filtered through a series of layers onto a mist. The installation is designed as a panel, like a skylight, installed above the heads of the viewers. Two layers modulate the light in different ways.
 
The first layer is a grid which acts as a selective venetian blind only letting a small amount of light through at a given time. Each hole through the grid is orientated to allow light to pass through at a specific range of times in the sun’s calendar. The second layer is an array of prisms, each aligned to the opening in the grid above. These work to disperse the light into the spectrum. The split light is then displayed on a fine cloud of mist.

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Nick’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact him, follow this nickcrrich@googlemail.com.

My practice is concerned with objects and symbol systems from cultures past, and how these might relate to our contemporary world. Referencing signs and objects from art-historic traditions such as the Byzantine and Baroque, I seek to recontextualise them to create new works that encourage the viewer to consider the legacy of these cultures.

On one level the work also acknowledges that all artistic endeavour is ultimately re-expression of ancient truths, that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. Far from being a depressing perspective, this helps us to know that we are still part of the vast dialogue of human culture, and that ultimately all of life will be renewed and perfected. The aim of the work is to give hope and prompt the viewer to engage in some way with the profound truths of our existence.
 
The banners displayed here combine a range of well-known symbols with more arcane ones. The device of the banner has been chosen for its military and heraldic associations. The hand-sewn, imprecise nature of the works suggests the makeshift battle-standards of times past, that would often be sewn by the soldiers themselves. They might also reference trade-union marches and collective efforts. In the church context, banners have recently become diluted objects of ridicule – lacklustre attempts to adorn anodyne contemporary worship spaces. The works here are attempts to reclaim the genre.

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Tom’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact him, follow this tomhelyarcardwell@gmail.com and you can view more of his work by visiting his website.

What we’re like under pressure can be said to reveal the truth about who we are. That can be the double-trouble of tough times: not only are things not going well, but we turn out not to be the person we hoped we were!

Our culture explores this in many different ways, from Photoshopped and Papparazzi’d celebrities, to sport (“Sports do not build character, they reveal it” said Haywood Hale Broun), to fictional dramas that are dominated by stories of people under pressure (“When the chips are down, these civilised people, they’ll eat each other” says the Joker in The Dark Knight). The Bible also has a lot to say about this, but comes to different conclusions and offers different hope to what we are used to.

The story of Paul and the Corinthians is a great example of a man showing his true colours when under pressure. 2 Corinthians 1:12-22 shows him praising God and loving others, even when they’re being idiots. A bit like Jesus really. How was Paul able to behave like this, especially given his fierce personality (Acts 26:9-11)? The simple truth is, Jesus changed his life (Acts 26:12-16, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Paul wasn’t just inspired by what Jesus was like and what He had done for him, He had the power of Jesus at work in him. Jesus now lived in Paul by His Holy Spirit, transforming him from the inside out. Once it was just Paul in there, with mixed to terrible results; now it’s Jesus in Paul, with Jesus getting greater and greater. That’s why when you squeeze Paul, you get Jesus – because Jesus is actually in Him.

Human beings are incredibly complicated, we have the beauty of God’s handiwork in us, and the pollution of sin, so we’re capable of good and bad – but the Christian is fundamentally different because they have the power of God within them which is transforming them. How does this happen? “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Changes can be sudden, some will be gradual. God knows what He’s doing, and as we co-operate with Him, amazing things will happen.

Questions

Invite people to share a way in which God has changed them: one sudden and one gradual.

How do we resist the Enlightenment/humanistic fallacy of hope for change coming from within when it is so pervasive in our culture?

Talk about the group’s different experiences of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Hopefully there will be a variety of stories which shows us not to expect Him to work in one way only.

Spend time praying for one another to be filled with the Spirit, especially for the power they need in pressurised situations.

Redefining Marriage part 2
In my first post in this series, we looked at the Government’s proposals for redefining marriage. So what’s the problem with these proposals? Clearly a lot of people are deeply concerned. The recently formed Coalition for Marriage has demonstrated the depth and size of the movement opposing any change in the current definition of marriage. As I write, over 460,000 have signed their petition under the slogan: “Don’t play politics with marriage.”

Let’s look at some of the concerns:

Firstly, there is a democratic concern. This proposal was not in any party manifesto in 2010. No one voted for it. Neither does there appear to be a significantly big lobby pushing for it. Recent polls taken over this issue have shown voters to be generally unconvinced, opposed or simply not seeing it as a priority. Furthermore, the recently produced Government consultation document indicates that it is the Government’s mind to go ahead with the legislation whatever the consultation results are. There is even a disclaimer to the effect that the number of opposing responses will not be considered significant! So, there is a democratic concern here. It appears that this is being driven through by parts of the political elite. Ironically, David Cameron is offering his MPs a free vote on this issue because he knows that it will not go down well with many of his backbenchers.

Secondly, there is a legal concern. Gay rights are not going to be significantly enhanced by this measure. The rights they campaigned for were achieved with the institution of civil partnerships. This is why many gays and lesbians are ambivalent about the current proposals.

Thirdly, there is a long-term concern. Why should the redefinition of marriage end here? What about polygamy? Or unions of closely related people? Where do we draw the line and why? Is marriage going to be redefined merely on the basis of current popular opinion?

Fourthly, there is a religious concern. Almost all the faith communities in the UK are opposed to the advent of ‘gay marriage’. Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and most Churches are clear on this point. Are we going to sweep away their united concerns so easily? What about the longer term possibility that faith groups will be legally forced to conduct ‘gay marriages’ against their will? It is a real concern.

Fifthly, there is a practical concern. If this proposed legislation takes effect then it will probably be necessary to conduct a massive nationwide administrative change. For a start, the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ will need to be taken out of all official documentation. It is hard to see where this process of redefinition will end… and how much it will cost.

I believe in local church-based evangelism.  I also believe that mission has to become central to the life of the church - if you want your church to grow and see evangelistic breakthrough, then mission has to be the primary focus of your church.  The priority of mission in the life of the church affects issues as basic as the church diary and prioritising what happens on a Sunday.
When I first came to King’s the church programme was shaped by my diary and my availability, not around the purpose of mission. For example, ‘I can’t be here on that Sunday as I’m on holiday so we won’t do the mission event there…’ We soon worked out was that was the wrong way of building! We decided - mission comes first.  I think in everything we do now, right through the philosophy of the church, mission is primary and then we build in behind that priority - the church programme must reflect this philosophy.  
Mission at the heart of church life particularly affects our Sundays - our Vision Sundays which we do twice a year, one in September and one in January, (and which I always do as the team leader) always includes an aspect of growth presented within it.  It will always include an appeal for new people to step in.  It will always include telling some of the King’s story.  Mission will be explicit in our goals and what we are reaching for over the next 5 years - that will be very high profile.  I’ve got this evangelistic thing in me (although I am not an evangelist – I realised that when I met one!) which makes me instinctively think that’s the way to grow.  So in our prayer meeting, if I’m leading, we will pray for other areas including pastoral care but I would probably always lead us into vision and into praying about growth.  I just do that.  

Hailing from a Design and Advertising discipline, communicating a message has been the centrifugal force behind of most of the works I have produced. With the digital canvas as my medium of choice, videos convey the message, information, and emotion of the various projects I've embarked on.

‘Rendering A Moment’ seeks to encapsulate a place and time. A moment which slips so easily by in the busy day, often refused even a glance of acknowledgement much less appreciation. This project was started off by simply capturing scenes of London, through the medium of still photographs. However through influence of the notion that ‘anyone can take a picture, the question is, how are you going to use it?’, I was inspired to render the series of images I had to fully depict a moment in all its glory. Stemming from my own appreciation for our created world, I hope to draw our eyes back to the simple things of God’s design, through a medium this generation can relate to.

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Malcolm’s work was exhibited at the Everything Conference 2012 Art Exhibition.
 
To contact him, follow this w.malcolm@gmail.com and you can view more of his work at his vimeo account here.

“The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2

It’s a scary prospect, the blank page. I don’t know that God was as scared, looking at His blank page at the start of creation, but I like to think, in some sense, he shared with us that sense of nervous anticipation at what’s to come, what could be, and whether the creation about to take shape will turn out right.

For us mere mortals, the blank page is an exciting prospect but a daunting one. Think of all the notable works that began with a single blank piece of paper: Hamlet, Harry Potter, episode one of Neighbours, the screenplay to Police Academy. When you sit down with a pen hovering over the surface of the page, or a flashing cursor on a Word document that says in the bottom left: ‘Page 1 of 1, Words: 0’, you could be about to embark on a journey that takes you anywhere.
 
But the main thing is that you do it. Regardless of what you come up with – whether it’s a five-act play, a poem, or half a paragraph on your first day at school – I’d encourage you to write anything. It’s all good practice, and you’ll look in five years time at what you wrote now and see the changes.
 
A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Everything Conference, a fantastic day of speakers and listeners, hope and faith and conversation. And real building blocks. You could feel that there was a great thirst for and supply of practical encouragement to get things done, and get our lives moving in the right directions. Then I came on, told a few jokes, and had a great chat with Andy Tilsley, and he ended with the question: “What would you say to anyone wanting to become a writer?” And I flippantly responded, “Don’t bother – give up – we don’t need the competition.” What I should have said was what I’m saying now: we don’t need the competition, BUT we badly need Christians in the comedy industry. I’m sure most industries need them too, but I can’t speak for any others – all I know is that the more decent folks writing comedy, the better, and I know a great source of decent folks. They’re in church. You, as a professional writer, can change the cultural landscape of this country.
 
I’m not urging readers of this to become stand-up comedians (although the stand-up circuit does badly need revitalising too to find new, fresh, positive, hope-filled performers), because that’s a very niche line of work and certainly not for everyone. In terms of writers though, we need a constant supply of stories to tell, of jokes to laugh at, of situations we recognise and characters we love to loathe, or want to will on.
 
So if you’ve ever thought, yes, I’d like to get something written up and broadcast, or a play put on, what’s stopping you? It’s a long road of rejections and rebuttals, but if you can take a few of those, and have that urge to take the cursor from Words: 0 to Words: 10,000, then go for it, and persevere. Everything you write, whether accepted for publication or broadcast, or turned down by everyone you throw it at, will make you a better writer, so there is no substitute for writing writing writing. Invest in a couple of books on the subject. Teach yourself the craft of your chosen area. There are great books on sitcom-, film- and play-writing that will open your eyes to the structures you need to adhere to, or at least be aware of if you choose to create something different. It’s a lie that you can’t learn how to write. If you’re dedicated to getting something made, spend a bit of time learning about the twenty-two building-blocks, or the three-act structure, or the Refusal of the Call and the Innermost Cave… or any of the genuine writing techniques that can help you make it happen.
 
And I wish you well. Overtake me, please. The more Christians working in the media, and especially in creative roles, the more the whole industry becomes transformed, and the more opportunities there are for the rest of us to tell messages and be heard.
 
Don’t take this to mean I’m saying you need to retell the gospel in everything you write. Commissioners would be fed up quickly if they suddenly received an onslaught of thinly-reworked tales of a Messiah and his twelve friends. You can tell stories that hit home in your life – and you can even just tell jokes. Comedy doesn’t have to change the world, but it can improve it, even just a little bit, if there’s something over which we can unite, whether it’s via a laugh, a sigh, or a pull on the heartstrings.
 
And maybe one day, when you’ve half-written and redrafted and scrapped ideas and rebuilt ideas, you’ll have at the end of it a finished script or poem or book, and you’ll have looked at it and maybe you’ll have seen…
 
“...that it was good.” Genesis 1:10
 
 
- If you could write anything - any genre, any topic, any length - what would it be? A sit-com? A book of poetry? A fantasy novel?
- Could you find 10 minutes today to make a start? Why not share your first line, or your pitch, with us below? Every script of 10,000 words starts with a single word…
 
To find out just how funny Paul really is, check out this video of his stand-up slot at the Everything Conference, then visit his website for more details of his work and forthcoming gigs.

2 Corinthians 4:6-18

Paul is talking personally in these verses of his own experiences of God in the midst of hardship.  His summary in v16 is that we are outwardly wasting away, but inwardly being renewed day by day.   The Christian lives in the tension of Crescendo (faith getting louder and stronger) and Diminuendo (body/ mind) getting weaker.

Are bodies and minds diminish, either through aging, or sickness, or anxiety or other pressures.  Paul knew this first hand.  According to 2 cor 11 he experienced prison, countless beatings, 5 floggings, 3  beatings with sticks, he was stoned,  shipwrecked 3 times, left adrift in the sea for 24 hours.  He experienced “everyday calamities” like being robbed and flooded and deprived of sleep and being hungry and cold.   Plus his anxiety for those he felt responsibility for.   These things have a toll on your body.   It’s thought Paul’s eyesight failed him by the end (Gal 6:11).  There were periods of illness- Galatians 4:13 where he was immobilised.

V7 says the fragility of  our human existence can be likened to a clay pot.  Easily damaged and broken.  When we become Christians we don’t become superhuman!  Rather the treasure is on the inside.

Even more importantly- it seems it’s actually God’s purpose to bring himself glory through our frailty and weakness and brokenness.  Sometimes we wrongly think God only get’s glory if he delivers us from sickness or pain.  Actually he displays his glory through those very things (see John 21:19- Peter’s painful humiliating death served God’s purpose).  As our body is in Diminuendo, so God’s power in us become more on display!  There’s a crescendo.

But it’s primarily inward.  We don’t look any different from anyone without this treasure.  But one day we will (1 John 3:2).  The fight of faith is one that we primarily face inwardly.  Yet it seems that how well we finish is more important than how falteringly we start (2 Tim 4:7).  We will do well if in our final breaths our confidence is in Jesus more than ever before.

One day the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as surely as the waters cover the sea.  Meanwhile, we live in the overlap of the ages-  the world in its present form is passing away (1 cor 7), but the kingdom of God is not yet fully here (Rev 21).  So we still wrestle with sickness, pain, death, anxiety, poverty, loneliness.  We have hope and we see some wonderful breakthroughs, but not all the time.  The main domain of God’s glory in this age will be in our hearts.

How can we receive encouragement when we’re feeling bruised and broken?  Paul says “we do not lose heart”.  Losing heart seems to be the battle of most Christians!  We get so discouraged through being hard pressed and perplexed and persecuted and struck down.  Life takes it’s toll on us.  Here’s some keys:

1) Keep hope in the future resurrection  2 Cor 4:14.  Whatever happens to our bodies and minds in this life- they will be raised again in glory and immortality.

2) Know that others are seeing Christ in you.  2 cor 4:12&15.   How often we are amazed at the grace God gives to those going through intense and difficult trials.  You may feel like the clay pot is breaking-  rejoice that the treasure will be better seen by others

3)Make a comparison.  Not just to others who may have it worse than you.  V17 says compare your suffering with the weight of eternal glory, which makes ANY hardship in this life light and momentary by comparison.

You do that by fixing your mind on eternal things (Jesus and your heavenly home) and reminding yourself of what is temporary (this life, this body, this world).

Questions

1) Read the passage out loud in your group.  Which of these verses do you take most encouragement from and why?  Share around the group.

2) “Therefore we do not lose heart”… what things discourage us most as Christians?   How do these verses help combat discouragement?

3) What do you think it looks like to “crescendo” in faith whilst battling with a the diminuendo of a world and even our bodies that are passing away.

4) It’s hard for us to see treasure in ourselves- especially when we’re feeling overwhelmed!  Discuss what is helpful (and what’s not!) in encouraging Christians who are facing hardship.

“Hello Sir, who are you representing today?”

“Barnabas Community Church,” I said as I scanned the pages of labels that were being dispensed at the conference registration desk. I didn’t spot another church name. Interesting.

What I did spot was an impressive list of the names of local voluntary agencies in our area: the Red Cross, the local Credit Union, the Samaritans, the Mental Health Forum… and so on.

This was my first visit to this particular conference. I had just joined the network at the urging of a friend of mine on the local Council.

I looked around the room full of delegates. To start with I didn’t spot anyone I knew. This is an unusual experience for me. However, an old friend from my squash club came over to chat and the ball started to roll…

So what was the conference about? It was the annual meeting of the local Voluntary & Community Sector Assembly. This is a thriving network in our county. It is remarkable to see the range and scope of volunteerism in a place like ours. I know this is the same in many other parts of the country.

We were all gathered to hear various reports and, particularly, to hear from the local Council Chief Executive. He reported on the state of the cuts and the changing political landscape as the government promotes ‘localism’ and encourages the Big Society. The message was loud and clear: money is tight and will remain so for a long time; however, there is plenty of room for voluntary agencies to play an important part in meeting social need in local areas and the Council is reorganising itself to enable this to happen.

I spoke to the Chief Executive in the coffee break. What role does he think the churches have in this new political landscape? He readily acknowledged the key role that churches must take in the future in rebuilding our society and enhancing what is called ‘social capital’. In fact, he said that churches often reach people who other agencies and the Council cannot reach.

How interesting.

It looks like the big opportunity of the Big Society is really here.

Are we ready?