Finding names for things is a real challenge.
Take Gardening as an example – there seems to be an infinite variety in plants and most of them have names. I struggle to identify what is a weed and what is a proper plant, never mind their names, especially when they are in Latin.

Maxime Planta Nomina Sunt Facta – My theory is that 45% of plant names are made up on the spot.

Christ used to describe himself as “The Son of Man” (recorded 88 times in the gospels), which was a clear reference to Daniel 7 vs. 13-14 and the Jews of that era would have been intimately familiar with the phrase and to whom it referred. Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the Messiah.
So how are we, his followers to identify ourselves then?
The disciples called each other, “brethren”, “disciples”, “apostles”, “servants”, “believers”, “followers”, “the faithful”, “the elect”, “the called”, and “saints.”
We can also identify ourselves as “bondservants” of Christ. (This is in the Code Bible – I was awake and listening when Carl gave a talk at The Edge Camp in August).
The problem is that most of these biblical words will not mean anything to those outside of the church.
This means we refer to ourselves as Christians – which is a bit odd as it was a name originally intended as derogatory description.
At no point did the writers of the New Testament describe themselves as Christian. Unfortunately calling ourselves Christians will offend some people.
The problem here is that there are parts of our society where the term Christian has very negative associations, probably because of the past behaviours and actions of those calling themselves Christian or all the things they publicly oppose. (Christians appear to be against any kind of pleasure or any group of people who are different).
Increasingly we see people calling themselves “followers of Christ”, which is accurate and does not carry the baggage that “Christian” does.
My church used to have a 50 Plus Group (I suspect some lied about their ages). It has been renamed to “The Tuesday Club”, however everyone still thinks of it as the over 50’s and it still meets on a Tuesday.
You may be aware that the CVM 50 Plus group is looking for a new name. Finding a good name is a real challenge, so any (clean, non-derogatory or ageist) suggestions would be welcomed.
Roger – a follower of Jesus

During a recent short break on the Isle of Wight we visited a couple of areas that had really old and pretty looking cottages. Because lots of people come and look at these old cottages, gift shops and tea rooms have opened, in fact these now outnumber the pretty cottages and people now visit for the shops and a cream tea.
While looking in some of the gift shops I noticed a number of plaques with witty sayings and words of wisdom on them such as “Keep calm and buy this mug”. Not surprising was that a lot of these witty sayings were based on stereotypes and were either negative towards men in general or ‘her indoors’.
One plaque however, did stand out as being genuinely inspirational and prompted me to look up the original message.

“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it…” 

– Wilferd Peterson

I thought this was relevant for a 50 plus blog, because theoretically we get to leave the world sooner rather than later. The same day I saw that quote this quote came through on Twitter:

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” 

– John Quincy Adams

The message to me was clear – walk with those who dream and inspire you and be a person who dreams and inspires others.
Where does blaming cheese come into this?! There is a verse in the bible which I think is a bit ageist.
The Day of the LORD

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Joel 2:28

When we talks about our dreams, what are we actually speaking about?
Martin Luther King inspired many when he said “I have a dream…”.
The film, Les Miserables includes a moving song – “I Dreamed a Dream”.
Joseph (as in multi-coloured coat), was known for his dreams and interpreting those of others.
Then there were the dreams I had on my recent short break. These were just strange and just weird, but then I had eaten the cheese platter for dessert just a short while before going to bed.

My company needs to make some “efficiency savings”. This is management speak for asking volunteers to sign up for a redundancy package. Those who are left behind will be expected to pick up the work of those who have left. 100% of the work carried out by the remaining 80% looks like an efficiency saving if you are a counter of beans.
I believe there is a training event planned where you play with Lego bricks and use post it notes to come up with ways to work harder.
The problem is that this is not the first round of efficiency savings, so in practice projects will take longer to complete and there will be more problems because of the corners that have been cut.
So with just a couple of years left before I would expect to retire, motivated by the prospect of more work, Lego bricks and post it notes, I have been seriously considering whether I should also volunteer to leave. This leads to the question – what would I do if I was made redundant?
I have seen a number of people who have been made redundant or retired early, who have chosen to throw themselves into church work.
At long last they have the time to be able to really serve the Lord, to learn Greek and Hebrew and write some deep and well-structured sermons. Many churches will be really grateful for any and all help that they can get, but it may be they do not really need a senior executive or telesales person but someone who can stack the chairs and play with the toddlers.
40+ years of work should mean you leave with useful skills and experience, it would be a shame to waste them, but are they ones that the church needs?
Many years ago I learned some key things:

• There is no difference between secular and Christian work – all work should be done as for the lord.
• Prayer works in business as well as on Sundays.
• For Christians to make a difference we should get out of our churches and alongside those who are not yet Christians.
• Our value to God is not based on what we do.
• Sometimes God may ask us to do nothing.
• Sometimes God may ask us to do something outside our comfort zone.

Perhaps when we stop paid work we should look a bit wider than the church, as there are many good charities (Christian and non-Christian) that could really use some help. I have come to the realisation that I should stay at work a little longer, perhaps to encourage and support my colleagues who are finding it 20% harder.
Who knows, when I do leave work, being able to play with Lego bricks could be a skill church could actually need.

 
I have had 2 recent business trips, one to Amsterdam and one to Frankfurt. On the flights they have just enough time to give you a snack and a drink.
Flying economy means that the snack is somewhat minimalist. On one flight it was a sausage salad, another it was half a sandwich, however one snack made a lasting impression on me. It was a packet of little savoury cheese biscuits with the words “Delicious Snack” boldly declared on the front.
When I read the ingredients (there was nothing else to do), I discovered it contained a long list of “E” numbers and definitely no cheese included. (Is there an E number for cheese)? The simple thought struck me that

labelling something as “delicious” does not make the contents delicious.

During the Amsterdam trip we stayed in a hotel that was handy for the station, it was also handy for a variety of restaurants. However, it was less helpful with it being closer to a lot of establishments offering services your pastor / minister / wife would not approve of.
It was a strange mix of a beautiful old city with canals and tourism mixed up with brightly presented sleaze.
It reminded me of the snack – it said it was delicious; however the packet contained something fake and artificial. I suppose it’s a principle that applies to all of us!

“what is on the outside should also be on the inside or putting it another way, what is inside us should be seen on the outside.”

Let you light shine.

I was on my way to my daughters for the Christmas holidays, heading north on the M42. As I approached the junction where you have to take the exit to stay on the M42, a black BMW cut me up at speed (I was doing 70).
I was so busy flashing headlights and sounding the horn that I missed the exit and ended up on the toll road – it cost me £4 in fees and 20 minutes on my journey.
Over the next two weeks I twice had to brake sharply because a BMW ignored the rules on priority and overtook a row of parked cars at speed. (We no longer have right of way, we have priority).
My wife and I then had a close shave when a car did not stop at a zebra crossing, you guessed it – another BMW. Based on these encounters I now consider BMWs something of a road hazard, as they clearly have no regard or consideration for other road users or pedestrians.
I am thinking of starting a petition to ban the import of these vehicles, raise a protest so that the council and government will have to do something about it.

It is evident that all BMW drivers are inconsiderate and should be punished.

Does this sounds a bit over the top?
What has happened here is that based on my experiences I have formed a stereotype.
After the first experience I then noticed the others and made the association. Some of you will read of my experience and agree with me because you too have had similar encounters with a BMW, some of you will now, because I have put the idea in your head.
There are people out there who have had experiences of church or watched TV soaps and news who will have developed a view of church and Christians that is a stereotype.
There are people inside churches who have developed stereotypes of other Christians or older Christians. (I watched a really funny episode of Top Gear where they modified a car to make it suitable for old people based on a lot of stereotypes).
The point of this article is twofold:

• Be careful about the stereotypes you form, because people and situations are far too complicated and varied.
• Don’t conform to the expected stereotypes – you are unique and whatever age you are, God still has a plan and purpose for you.

If only I could figure out why, whenever I am stuck in a queue of traffic, that the car in front is a Toyota?