The Legacy of Ball Face

Have you ever had one of those surreal moments?

I had one this week during an email conversation with a contact from my gap year. It turns out that an incident that occurred during my time at their church has become a bit of a legend - still talked about today! I was quite taken aback by this.

The incident wasn’t a great message I preached.

It wasn’t a fantastic prayer, or conversation I had.

It wasn’t that I’d helped change someone’s life.

It was that I was hit in the face with a ball during a (out of control) game of dodgeball, and I completely lost my temper. I yelled at the young people, and sent them all into a stunned silence, which later earned me the nickname of ‘Ball Face’.

According to the email with my contact

“You have become a living legend in these parts. Some think that ‘Ball face’ is a myth but only a handful of us know the real story. Your legacy lives on”

As human beings, we all want to leave our mark, our legacy, upon the world. We all wonder how we will be remembered; what will be said at our funeral; whose life have we impacted? Decisions we make, actions we take, can all be effected by how we want to be remembered.

But what about those moments when we aren’t thinking about what we will leave behind? In one moment of weakness, I left a legacy I didn’t intend. I am remembered as the ‘ball face’ at this youth club. Was that what I wanted? No.

When thinking about leaving a legacy, often thoughts turn to the big, grandiose actions you can take. Who can we proclaim the good news to? How much money will it take to be remembered by a charity or project? What marks do I need to get in my exam? How many hours volunteering do I need to do?

While big things will help you be remembered, don’t forget about the little things. The everyday decisions count. The actions you do daily count. We all make mistakes, but lets drown them out by living well and displaying God in all we do. If we focus on leaving a legacy for him, we will most likely leave a better legacy than one of our own name.

The problem with legacies is that however hard you try to create your legacy, it is ultimately other people who decide how you are remembered. Those who focus on what they are leaving behind can become dissatisfied with their lives when they don’t come up their expectation, or become prideful by all they have achieved. Eventually, such people will be remembered in these ways, as that is the main focus of their life, not what they actually want to be remembered for. The big actions may be remembered fleetingly, but it is the small, consistent actions we take that become our legacy.

I may be remembered as ‘Ball face’ by the young people, but the email went on to say how positively our gap year group was remembered by the leaders and others within the church. As an individual, I may be ‘Ball face’, but our group left a legacy of how to live life well as Christians in community. We didn’t do anything great; we just lived together, focussing on God and making his name great, daily.

What legacy are you leaving behind in your daily life? Is it something you are proud of? Does your everyday life reflect how you want to be remembered?

Spiritual Check Up

I hate going to the doctors. I’ve been coughing for the past few weeks and finally decided to go get checked out. But I hate making that call. I’m always nervous they’re going to tell me I’m imagining things and to stop wasting their time. That has never happened, of course, but I still would rather suffer until someone forces me to go. Then I know I’m truly sick. But how often could I have avoided unnecessary pain and illness by going earlier?

Going to the doctors wasn’t as bad as I thought. They checked me out and told me what I needed to do, and all’s well. My mind is at ease. I can get on with life.

Being ill these past few days, and my unwillingness to call the doctors made me think of Luke 5:30 – 32.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
(NIV)

While the Pharisees and other ‘righteous’ people continued to view themselves as healthy, they would not need Jesus. The ‘sinners’ who were so aware of their own sin, appreciated Jesus more and came to him more readily to  be healed of that sin.

While I am reluctant to see my doctor, my fiancé is the opposite. Because he has poor health, he has a great relationship with his GP and will happily go to them with even the slightest change in his health. I, on the other hand, take my health for granted and rarely admit to being ill.

We can be the same in our spiritual lives, as Jesus’ words show. Those who are new in their relationships with him seem to be very aware of when they mess up and go immediately to him. Those of us who have been 'healthy' and in a relationship with him for longer can be very different.

Even though we are saved, we are can often carry around sin for a long time until we can’t ignore its presence any more and come to God for forgiveness. We pretend everything is fine, yet we know deep down we should go for a spiritual check up to sort it out. The sin can then seep into every part of our life, poisoning our efforts, and we feel like we’re not communicating with God as we used to. We can fear his wrath and anger, and that stops us from making that call to him.

But just like a quick visit to our doctor, placing our sin before God and asking for forgiveness is never as bad as we think it will be, and we feel so much better afterwards.

I encourage you to spend time with God this weekend having a quick ‘spiritual check up’. What spiritual battles are you ignoring within yourself? What does God want to say to you, but you won’t give him the time to?

(Don’t forget to check out my fundraising page for EMASS – I'm walking 34 miles in 2 days!)

Servant to what?

I found myself watching ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’ this weekend, something I don’t normally do, and Joanna Lumley was one of the guests. They ended up discussing the use of mobile phones, and how when their phone notifies them of anything, people jump immediately to respond. You can see the interview below (from 5:38 – 7:20).

Last night, I was engaged in conversation and one of the group explained how they has deleted their facebook. Why? Because of the way it can take over people’s lives and the ‘Like’ culture it creates. We began discussing the why’s and what’s of people’s behaviour in regard to these sites: why do we post something on facebook? Why do we become disappointed if someone doesn’t ‘like’ or comment on our post? What is our motivation for posting information? Why are we still ‘friends’ with people we haven’t had contact with for more than a year? And many other such questions. In the end, a lot of us admitted that we very rarely use facebook because of all these issues.

I’m doing a 34 mile sponsored walk next month (find out why and how to sponsor here: https://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Perry1/), and so I’ve been completing training walks on my days off. Although I take my phone with me in case of an emergency, it remains in my bag from the moment I set off until the moment I return. I also leave it on silent so that I’m not distracted or tempted to check it while I’m out. The experience is quite freeing. I no longer feel like the servants in ‘Downton Abbey’, at the beck and call of my phone. For those few hours, I am free to be in my own mind and work through problems and concerns without becoming distracted. It also grants me the opportunity to speak with God and actually listen and wait for him to respond.

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (NIV)

While Jesus is speaking about money, we can relate this to our relationship with our mobile phones (or other internet enabled devices). Responding to our phones can end up consuming all of our time if we are not careful. Our quiet times can be interrupted by a notification from our phone, and we never get back to it. Our phones can never leave our sides and if it does, we feel like we’re missing a limb! Is this really healthy? How beneficial is it to our relationship with God?

Upon reflection, I’m now trying to cut down on the time I spend with my phone directly at my side. And if I do have it on me, I will ignore it if I’m with someone else as my focus should be on them, not on what’s happening with my phone. I’ve already started with my walks, but I’m going to continually seek times in my week when I turn my phone off or leave it completely out of site so I can seek ways to serve God more whole heartedly.

We are God’s servants, not our mobile phones.

I encourage you to spend some time this week reflecting on your own relationship with your mobile phone. Are you its servant? Can you leave it away from your side? Or is there something else that you are servant too?

Regular Exercise

My gym has recently changed management, and they have refurbished all the equipment. Its all brand new, looks great, and it works! While the old equipment was adequate for the task, some of it was getting well worn and there was generally at least one machine out of order at any one time.

The main positive of the new equipment is that you are able to exercise more easily and work more of your body, therefore reaching your goals quicker. The down side is you ache a lot more the next day!!

  

Keeping fit by regular exercise is something we all know is good for us and we should aim to do. Unfortunately, not many of us do all we should. While I’ve been talking about the gym, I’ve not been very often in the past few months.

But with the new equipment, I’ve recommitted to trying to go to the gym every few days for at least an hour. For the past week, that’s been going well. But I will need to remain motivated and focus on the end result if I want to stick to this commitment.

It can be the same in our spiritual lives. We all know daily prayer and Bible reading is good for us, but how many of us manage to do it? I’m talking about a quick daily verse off the internet and a quick ‘Hi God’ prayer in the car, but the real, deep searching for God’s voice and spending a significant amount of dedicated time in prayer. I know I don’t.

Often we will buy new Bible reading books, or download flashy Bible reading ‘apps’, but how often do we manage to stick with them to the end? And even if we do, how long is it before they become just a quick 5 minute activity in-between rushing from one thing to the next?

Just as with committing to regular physical exercise, we need to commit to regular spiritual exercise. The same motivation and focusing on why we are undertaking the activity can help us keep our commitments in the tough times.

Some days, I don’t want to go to the gym as I feel too stressed or busy, but I remember that by exercising I work out those issues as I work out my body and feel better at the end of it.

Some days, I don’t want to read my Bible for the same reasons, but by remembering that through prayer and study I am inviting God to make a difference and speak to me that I will be in a better state of mind and know God’s presence with me, I am able to focus my mind on Him.

As I’ve mentioned above, there are lots of aids to help us read our Bible and pray regularly. These can be great helps, and a great place to start! But remember we must commit and motivate ourselves in those tough times to stick with it, and we will see results!

Youth Councils 2013

On 24^th February, over 50 young people and their youth leaders gathered together to share in the Anglia Division Youth Councils 2013. The day was spent looking at the Holiness, and how this can be applied to our lives in the 21^st Century.

Major Cliff Allchin (Divisional Director for Evangelism, Anglia) spoke to the young people about the 2 parts of holiness, and how it can be like a horse and cart. First comes the horse – accepting Christ as saviour and receiving the Holy Spirit make us holy before God. Then the cart can follow, full of acts of holiness. The young people were reminded how important it is to get the horse and cart the right way around; performing the acts of holiness are meaningless if we have not accepted Jesus. The young people were given ideas on how they can undertake these acts of holiness which included reading scripture, praying and actions.

In the afternoon, there were a number of seminars for the young people to attend. Deeper Lives allowed them to ask explore the mornings teaching to a deeper level and find ways of putting the acts of holiness into practice when they got home. Anglia Youth Band and Youth Chorus taster sessions gave young people an opportunity to sing and play before they joined, increasing interest in the groups, which also performed with the new attendees in the evening session. Young people also had the opportunity to relax in the Café Zone, and Youth leaders where given space to meet and get to know one another.

In the evening worship, the young people spent time at various prayer stations based on the ALOVE theme of ....Water. Each prayer station focused on one of the different 'streams' of the theme; Refreshing water (to be refreshed), Pure water (holiness), Hard water (tough questions), and Deep water (theology). God’s presence was felt by many and allowed young people to experience new ways of prayer. A time of testimony after the prayer stations showed how they valued this experience and has enjoyed the day. One young person said “I really didn’t want to come today. I just didn’t feel like coming. But I’m so glad I did and it’s helped me become much closer to God and better in my faith”.

Did you come to Youth Councils? Make sure to fill in the survey to give your feedback!

No Burying of Dead Monarchs in the Car Park

On Monday, we received the news that a skeleton found in a Leisceter car park was the remains of King Richard III. I really like my history and love archaeology programmes, and so watched with interest a documentary about the process they undertook to find his body.

The programme began with basic background information on Richard III, the people involved, and the car park in question. The group interested in finding Richard’s body had completed extensive research and taken great care to try and locate his body before any digging commenced. When they had the funding and support for the dig, it began in earnest. On the first day they discovered bones, but as this was the site of a church and priory, no one really expected much from them. However, as the layout of the church was discovered, the indication was that this could indeed be the remains of the dead monarch. After years of testing the bones with carbon dating, DNA and other tests, it was confirmed that Richard III had been found. The joy the Ricardians (historians who are interested in Richard III’s life) felt was amazing. Here was their lost king.

Now, the arguments have begun over where he should be re-laid to rest.

This seems a strange topic for a blog post, I agree. But this news topic started me thinking about the resurrection – yes, before Easter or even Lent!

Finding the body of Richard took someone digging in the right place, but even if the whole world was to be dug up – we would never find the body of the King of Kings, Jesus.

Jesus is risen from the dead. There is no body to be found.

I don’t know what difference that makes to you, but I want the power of the resurrection to be at work in my life daily. And it can be for you.

I’m currently reading a book called ‘Practising Resurrection’ by Cris Rogers. I’m only about half way through, but it has already started to impact my view on the true meaning of the resurrection and the power it can have. The book challenges the view that the death and resurrection of Jesus being about sin management; a way of sorting out the problem sin poses to a relationship with God by having someone else punished. If that was the case, Jesus would never have had to be resurrected – he was killed and so sin was now ‘managed’. The true power of the resurrection is that the whole of creation is instantly re-created in that moment. And we can share in that resurrection by dying to ourselves so Jesus can live in us.

By dying to ourselves, we are placing our own needs and desires beneath those of God. Its truly submitting to the will of God in our lives. Our lives no longer belong to ourselves. In Acts 2:42 - 47 we are given an example of this new resurrection community:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—  all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

The book explains this idea further, and I would highly recommend it.

So let us remember, as the arguments continue over which Cathedral will be honoured with the bones of King Richard III, that the King of Kings is living and his home is in our lives. We are called to live life as a resurrection community, and grow God's Kingdom.

Les Miserables

I am a huge musicals fan. Give me the option of going to the theatre to see anything I wanted, it would be a musical. And most likely, I would go to see my favourite musical. Les Miserables. So I’m sure you can imagine my excitement that this fantastic story has been put on film.

I was first taken to see Les Miserables when I was 7 years old. I must admit, I didn’t really follow the story, and fell asleep in the second act, but I immediately fell in love with the music, and a 15 year obsession began. I have seen the stage show a further 2 times (once in London, and again on the 25^th Anniversary tour) and watched the Anniversary DVD’s countless times. I now fully understand the story, appreciate the music ten times more, and try to share my enjoyment of the show with everyone around me. I even managed to read the book last year!

The key plot of the musical is the pursuit of a police officer of a convict over many decades. The musical starts with the convict (Jean Valjean) being released on parole by a police officer (Javert). Once Valjean is released, he finds it difficult to find work and is very bitter. A priest then offers him hospitality, but Valjean steals his silver and escapes before some local police officers catch him. The priest comes to Valjean’s aid, instead of condemning him, and says the silver was a gift, and even gives him more! This causes a deep change in Valjean, and he resolves to restart his life with a new identity, but always seeking to do God’s will.

Javert knows Valjean has broken his parole, and then becomes obsessed with finding him and bringing him to justice. The 2 characters meet numerous times in the musical, and while the audience can see the change in Jean Valjean, Javert remains convinced that a convict can not change and continuous to try to bring Valjean to justice.

I will leave the plot there, as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who may be going to see the film.

This plot of redemption and condemnation speaks to me every time I see the show, and it can reflect experiences we encounter on a regular basis (although maybe not quiet so dramatically).

On the side of Jean Valjean there is a great story of redemption and change. He completely turns his life around and achieves great things. Without the conversion, many would have suffered and died. This speaks to us of the true transformative power God can bring into anyone’s life – God doesn’t only work in the ‘good’ people, but in the lives of the lowest of the low as well.

On the side of Javert there is a story of a man filled with prejudices the end up consuming his life. He refuses to admit that God can work the kind of transformation Jean Valjean has gone through, and when he finally faces that transformation, Javert can not cope. How often do we see people through the eyes of our prejudices? Do we admit they can change, and accept it when they do?

We must remember that God can do more than we can imagine. He works his transforming power in the lives of anyone and everyone, from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, and we should accept and acknowledge these changes when they occur.