Ok, so were back with another in the ultimate top ten ever made, and this time I am playing it safe with one of the most well known bible verses ever. Or am I?

08. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

I think we have maybe all seen this verse spray painted on a wall at some point in our lives, but it has been used so many times in so many places. Sportsman have run around with it on T shirts, and even eye patches. It been written at different events shown on TV for millions to see but it still hasn’t lost any of it’s importance and impact for me.
The verse comes from a conversation Jesus is having with a religious guy called Nicodemus (who’s journey was just amazing and well worth looking at). Nicodemus doesn’t appear much in the Bible, I think only 3 times.
He questions Jesus in the dead of night about being born again, a secret meeting with Jesus so Nico’s mates don’t find out perhaps! The we see him defending Jesus amongst his peers, a bit of public stand. The last time we see him is after Jesus has died and Nicodemus is part of the team retrieving the body of Jesus.
The thing is with John 3:16 and these words of Jesus, it is in layers and each one has incredible relevance for not just who we are but whose we are.
God loved the world – Love is the foundation
He gave his only son – the biggest rescue mission ever to save a world He loved
Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) – A choice, it is yours and mine to make
Eternal life – This isn’t the end, a hope and promise in the life to come
I don’t know about you but I wrestle with the bible at times, I struggle with my understanding of who God is and what He has done. Sometimes I question my faith, and the doubts can sneak in. I struggle when I see the pain in the world and see God’s heart and response at times. I have all this going on, perhaps like lots of you do, but I am choosing to believe that this is the truth. God loves what he made and decided to save it from eternal separation from Him. We get to choose him now, while He can still be found we have that choice to make.
Many say no to Jesus because it is a choice, and it cannot be made for you by someone else.
I have decided to make my choice to follow Jesus, his promises and his word, I guess I’m staking my life on it.

Image Credit: Aaron Burden

Welcome back fellas, let’s do another in our top ten list of my favourite bible verses. Don’t forget, we would love to hear from you and know what you think.

09. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT

There are (as ever) verses before this that set the scene, so it is important for us not to lose the context here and just pull a single verse out and make it fit our lives. The main thrust though, is that when we try and put our confidence, trust and hope in the flesh, be it other people or our own ability, strength and resources we will fail. If your heart turns from a child-like reliance on God you will be like a tree in the desert, cursed and dry, finding no pleasure, purpose or hope in life.
With that in mind, it makes the next verses really powerful. Not cursed but blessed are those who trust in the Lord, making Him their confidence and hope! Wow.
The verses go on to paint a picture of what that sort of man would look like, a tree planted with deep roots that are fed, nourished and maintained. When the problems come along, (and I think we would all agree that life isn’t linear!), life’s course will twist and turn a lot at times, but the storms won’t destroy us.
I don’t know about you but it has been these verses and promises, like this that have held me in so many storms that makes me unable to deny the Bibles relevance and authority over my life.
This verse talks not just about ‘getting through’ the storms that come, but almost getting through the storm with an indignation, and victorious shout. Now that is more than just your faith being an anchor and crutch during difficult times. This is about a rooted hope and confidence that cannot be shaken.
This is powerful to write about but it is nothing compared to the person or people you meet who still have this hope and confidence, even after being trashed by storms in life. Amazing!

Image Credit: Aaron Burden

If you have been in connection with CVM for a while or been to any of our events you will know that the top 10 isn’t just something we do, we own it.
I’m not sure where or how this started but we love a good top ten at CVM, and when it comes to planning for the Gathering, it gets real.
I started to think about the ultimate top ten and for me it would need to be my top ten bible verses and why. So, without further ado, let’s go for it. Stay with me for the next 10 weeks and if you want to, tweet or contact us with your top 10 bible verses.

10. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore.

Hebrews 13:13 NLT

You might have come across this one before but I doubt it as it’s a bit of a hidden gem.
The context is who Jesus is and what he has done, and then that incredible shift over to us , us not being stuck or afraid to be all in for Jesus, even if it costs you everything you have!
I remember being in France looking at the preserved WW1 trenches and seeing the horror of just how close the battle was. It was easy in the trench to get as low as I could and find a spot to be that wouldn’t offer complete safety but would keep me out of the line of direct fire. Huddled and tucked up in the corner I could get a small insight at how it might have been, a truly desperate time and one for real courage.
I had a bit of a moment in that trench thinking about my life as a Christian bloke and how easily it is to find a safe corner away from the heat of battle. When the conversation is about God and I keep quiet, or the moment to pray out loud and I choose the inner prayer. These opportunities come and go all the time and this verse hit me hard.
Am I willing to go outside the camp, away from the comforting heat of the camp fire to be willing to bear the disgrace He bore? Yeah, I am. Will I speak for Jesus, be his hands and feet, be the man the Captain calls me to be even if it means I step up onto the parapet and stick my head up over the top of the trench? Yeah, I am.
Let’s go out to him fellas, outside the camp because that’s where he seems to be, engaged on a rescue mission in enemy territory!

Image Credit: Aaron Burden

A few weeks ago, I completed my CVM Grand Challenge. It was a deeply moving weekend in my life, and in the lives of those who accompanied me. I was asked during the final climb, on Snowdon, what had been the most significant aspect of the weekend for me. Surprisingly it was this; over that weekend I had proven to myself that with a bit of discipline I can achieve anything.
I have to be honest with you, there were a number of times during those climbs that I could quite easily have given up. This was especially the case on Scafell Pike, the middle climb. There were many incentives to keep on going, not least the words of Steve Martin ringing in my ears.
This morning I read some verses from Galatians 5, the words that particularly jumped from the passage were: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”. It got me thinking about the freedom I am entitled to have through life in Christ, but also how that freedom comes at a pretty high cost.
The obvious high cost is that Jesus had to go to the cross, on my behalf, to gain it. Without the selfless sacrifice of Christ, there would be no freedom to be had in the first place. However, there is a pretty high cost for me too:
I must follow Jesus!
I must daily take up my cross!
I must be surrendered to Him!
I must be His disciple!
I must be disciplined!
But in the same way that climbing the three peaks with a nine-foot cross proved to me that with a bit of discipline I can achieve anything, so taking up my cross every day even when I do not feel like doing it means that I can have all the freedom Christ promises me. When we have the kind of freedom that Galatians 5:1 speaks of, we become very powerful men, we become real world-changers, we become like Christ himself.
There is another verse in John (14:30) where Jesus tells his disciples that Satan is coming for him. The thing is that Satan was always doomed to fail. Why? Because of the way Jesus lived his life! His absolute discipline, his total focus meant that the enemy would have no way of getting control over Him. Satan will keep coming for us, but how we live our lives will determine how much control he can or cannot have over us.
Our lives, this side of the Kingdom, will always ebb and flow. There will be times when we will need to rely more heavily on discipline than at other times. However, the promise always remains—it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. So, if you are in that moment, when you just need to make the right decisions for the right decisions sake; if, right now, it feels like you are having to guts it out a bit, remember this, the result of such discipline is that you get to achieve what you first thought was beyond you. True freedom knows no limitations.
One last encouragement, for those of us who feel like we have lost time, even years, remember this: Jesus Christ is the only One who can give you back what you once thought was totally lost:
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten– the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm…”  Joel 2:25

1. You
We made it, congratulations and thank you for journeying with me over this 10 week adventure. I hope it has been interesting and engaging, I enjoyed writing this series of blogs.
OK, no.1, you matter.
In the list by Aseem, published by the Observer, the top slot goes to this one, ‘you matter’.
Perhaps you have felt that cloud descend that says ‘you’ve got no value, your opinion doesn’t matter, the way you think, talk and act doesn’t matter and no-one notices you anyway.’
It is such an easy place to find ourselves in but the amazing thing in all this chaos of self doubt and loneliness is that a voice calls from the deep and says ‘you DO matter.’
Jesus not only calls us from the deep with a message of hope and value, he also knows what this feels like! This is amazing, that God’s son knows how this feels.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15
The bible tells us that Jesus knows this life, he knows what it feels like to be human, all our stuff he knows it.
Jesus knew that his father loved him, and valued him, he knew it, yet on the cross he felt the agonizing separation and pain of taking on sin, the mess of humanity. Did Jesus feel that sense of isolation, loneliness and doubt of ‘do I matter’?
If we reason that Jesus knows our struggle in every way then yes, he must have experienced these feelings and emotions.
Now here is why the resurrection of Jesus is so amazing, not only did he rise to life again in victory over death, he defeated the power of these lies about our value too.
We are and can be forgiven, from all sin! We can be free men, free men! No longer enslaved by sin, fears, doubts and the pains of not knowing if we matter to anyone.
Jesus carved our value into history on that cross and sealed it in permanently when he rose from the grave, you matter!
Be free from the doubts of identity and take your place as Gods loved and treasured possession. Jesus is your captain, brother, rescuer and friend.
Thank you Jesus.

Image Credit: Aaaron Burden

Fake news everything is fake news … been reflecting on this a bit recently and thinking about the subject of ‘dits’ .. a ‘dit’ is naval parlance for a ‘story’ all of which are based on fact … some of course more so than others, but that’s what a good dit should be … in fact Jesus spun dits (you civvies call them parables) and these were not actually true … they were stories made up to make a point.
When in the Royal Navy I used to love the pipes (or broadcasts) that were often made from the gangway when the ship arrived in a foreign port … ‘Jack Blair, naval tailor, is now in attendance on the jetty’. (Jack Blair was the approved tailors where you got your Number 1 uniform fitted, medals sewn on and you could buy terrible run ashore civvies as well – they had shops in all main UK base ports and vans that visited the ships when alongside). Anyway the pipe would be made when arriving alongside in downtown Dar Es Salam or somewhere and of course some young lad would appear at the gangway to pick up his Number 1 uniform that he forget to get before he left UK …. not a true pipe … Jack Blair’s van was not on the jetty, fake news!
As a Divisional Officer (DO) all I ever wanted was for the lads and lasses in my care to tell the truth. Like the lad who was up in front of the skipper after a mass raid on the Junior Rates messes resulted in about 40 bottles of illicit Pussers Rum bought in Antigua being confiscated. There was no mitigation. They were all guilty. Simple. However at the Captains table (where the Captain ‘tried’ sailors who were on a charge and dealt out punishments etc), after they were marched in in groups of 4 (there were so many of them up on the same charge!), when asked if anyone had anything to say, this young lad said ‘Yes Sir’. As his DO my heart sunk … what is he going to say? He will drop himself in it even more! He then spun this ‘dit’ about his Dad being ex RN and the rum was for him. The skipper called his bluff and said that he would keep a bottle back for his dad. When we got back into Guzz (Plymouth) after the deployment the skipper actually presented dad with this bottle of rum … Dad was indeed ex RN and thought this whole thing was brilliant! It was the truth … his dad was expecting the rum … great ending to this dit (and completely true!!!!!!)!
Truth is very much in the public eye at the moment with the constant claims about lies and ‘fake news’. Very often one man (or womans!) word against another, slightly ambiguous evidence, dodgy character references etc etc … who do we believe? Going back a bit further there were the recent tragic revelations about Jimmy Saville … who lived a lie all his life … and no-one believed the true allegations from the victims … all is not what it seems on the surface.
So how are you at presenting the truth to those around you? Does your outward appearance show the real you? Are you living some kind of lie to those around you? Pretending to be something you know deep down isn’t who you really are or want to be? Sometimes we can even keep this stuff from those closest to us and when asked ‘how are you?’ reply ‘fine’ … when actually that is fake news and we are not fine at all.
So what does the Bible have to say about truth? What is it challenging us to do?
In Matthew Ch 5 v 38 Jesus is recorded as saying this: ‘You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.’
Well that’s easy isn’t it? If you are struggling with ‘living a lie’ do try and find someone you can trust to open up to and begin to reveal the real you … where your yes means yes and your no means no. When deployed away from home there were always guys who did not want to go on a traditional ‘run ashore’ but pretended they did due to peer pressure .. not being true to themselves. If someone presented an alternative run ashore (ie bit of sightseeing, meal, back on board) they were happy because that was really what they wanted to do .. but often needed someone to give them ‘permission’ to be true to themselves. Jesus gives us all that opportunity to be true to who we were created to be …

2. Thinking clearly
Being able to distinguish between facts and opinions. At Bible College I struggled with this transformation of the mind.
At no.2 in the list of the top 10 important things you need to know in life we find this one, ‘thinking clearly’.
Essentially this is defined as being able to distinguish between facts and opinions and then manage and think clearly in life. Valuable stuff, but I think we still need help with this at times.
When I was at Bible College it felt like my whole faith was being dismantled. We would be presented with a series of opinions from theologians on a subject which were then discussed and explored in class. I would find myself agreeing with an opinion and feeling secure but then another angle was presented, completely different and I was then pulled that way, in the end I was stranded in the middle without a paddle.
Therefore time at bible college was both great and terrible at the same time! It was so difficult to work out what I believed, and to be able to filter through the noise of so many views, opinions and in some cases facts.
How we do that in life, at work and at home varies depending on what we are doing and what family and community we are part of.
But, what I can say to you with absolute, 100% conviction is that when we invite the Holy Spirit into this process it is a game changer.
The Bible is God’s word that is living and active so when you use it in and over your life, expect things to happen.
One of the passages in the Bible which touches on this subject is this:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
I have prayed around this verse lots of times in my life, especially when the way ahead looked messed up, my mind confused and I need that clarity of thought. I have used it hour by hour in some cases, day by day or week by week, and the truth is it works.
There is no magic here or special effects, this is just called yielding to the Holy Spirit and inviting him to have control, even over how we think.
He will transform our thoughts, I have seen it first hand with absolute clarity, it works.
Be transformed by the way you think, think clearly.

Image Credit: Aaron Burden

3. 20 Minutes
We are nearly there, I hope you are still with me working through this 10 episode blog extravaganza!
In at number 3 is a routine and pattern called the 20 minute morning and night rule. It doesn’t need a huge amount of explanation as it is essentially suggesting that habit, routine and pattern is good for you in lots of ways. We know this, brushing your teeth morning and night is what we have always been told, er…cant think of many more.
Anyway, the point is a simple one, routine works! Pattern and disciplines in our lives are really important. So does any of that matter or carry weight in our lives as Christian men looking to grow our faith and relationship with God?
Yeah, I think it does, but with limitations. This is great for learning to play the spoons or something but is that really how we build a relationship? ‘Morning darling, I’ve got 20 minutes for you now then 20 this evening, outside of that, we don’t speak. Cheery bye.’
We can fall into a trap here too where we beat ourselves up because our everyday day bible reading scheme is still stuck on February’s reading. Perhaps you have been there, you want to read the Bible and prayer comes and goes but you still believe in God and feel a connection.
I think what can happen is that whilst this sort of 20 minute morning and evening pattern is helpful to some, it can also discourage and de-motivate others.
I was chatting to a mate recently about forgiveness, he said a great thing. Instead of intensifying forgiveness, focus on loving a person more, forgiveness will grow from that.
That works for me, and I think we can see a similar thing happening here. As I have made time for church, a conversation about God, a prayer as I am walking, a reading during my lunch time, send or receive and encouraging email or share a ‘Jesus’ conversation with someone I have noticed a change.
The change is that I want to read my bible, I want to pray more, I want to listen to worship music or sing the songs at church. This was not born out of beating myself up about a 20 minute ritual, it came from loving God more and putting people and situations around me further up the agenda.
I am not suggesting that we don’t nurture a quiet time, but I am suggesting this looks different for everyone and actually grows and forms uniquely. I would say that although disciple in prayer etc is important, we should look to rediscover and grow the relationship before setting a rigid timescale. Find ways to build the relationship and I think the discipline and devotion follows but without the intensity or guilt when you fail.

Image Credit: Veri Ivanova

4. Leave it looking great
I remember hearing a story about a stadium in the UK that was used for a big national event by the Jehovah Witnesses. After the event they had teams of Jehovah Witnesses come into the venue to clean it. They cleaned everywhere, even areas they hadn’t used, they went above and way beyond what was expected and the management of the stadium were amazed and deeply impacted by this kindness.
I like that story, it really challenged me about how we honour one another and how as Christian men we show our integrity in action.
We host the Gathering each year in a field in Swindon, you may have been there. What perhaps you haven’t seen is that after the event on the Monday and Tuesday we walk around the field for hours picking up miniscule pieces of rubbish, paper, plastic, sweet wrappers and the dreaded tent pegs.
We do it because we strive to show this integrity, and honour in the way we operate as a movement at CVM.
Let’s scale this down a bit to you and me, at work, at home or just out and about, what does this look like, to leave things better than we find them?
Like borrowing a car from a mate with a bit of fuel and giving it back full up with a wash and wax. Borrowing someones house while they are away and they come home to a fridge full of food.
I think we work within a pattern that says you give it back in the same condition, like a hire car, it goes back with the same amount of fuel in, that makes sense. But in other areas of life what would it be like to go beyond that, to leave thing better than how we found them?
This is one of those subtle things we can do that make a huge difference, the meeting room at work that everyone uses, trashes and the cleaner puts back together at the end of the day. What about one day a note of thanks to that person as they look around a spotless meeting room.
This may feel like superficial stuff but I think it does impact people and it helps to show that as Christian men, men living a different CODE, we practice honour and integrity and we leave stuff better than we found it.

Image Credit: Nicolas Barbier Garreau

5. Creating ‘Value’ for others
Lets start with this today, a section from the bible where Jesus is speaking to his disciples. ‘My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.’ John 15:12
So in this, the 5th of the most important things you need to know in life, Aseem suggests we should be the man who creates value for others. I think this is a really interesting idea for us Christian men to consider, as we are at polar opposites to the reasoning behind this concept.
In the article, the logic and reasoning is what we can sadly see all the time, create value for others then you will be in a strong financial position, people will admire you and you will be successful. The article essentially argues that we are one of two kinds of people, either buying into the value that is set for us by others or setting the value and getting rich!
Sadly, this is generally how things work in life, but the good news is as Christian men we have been shown something else, something that actually flips this model on it’s head.
The value people have has been set, it was set 2000 years ago when the author of life was nailed to tree as a timeless line in the sand that says ‘you are worth everything to me, I will take your place.’
Value set. Jesus is the way to eternal life, his body broken and pieced has made it possible, so our value is established as Gods son’s because of Jesus.
Yes, we live in a culture and time that Aseem is prescribing to that perpetuates a false sense of value, a value set by people whose false value is in the one they are trying to set…I know, what a mess.
But you get rich so its ok, right?
As Christian men we have the opportunity to stand against this stuff, not with hostile words or angry social media posts, but with LOVE. Not rainbows and doves and pictures of Jesus with a halo, but LOVE lived out in our daily lives and raw.
This model of creating value for others, so we can stay on the crest of the wave, is flawed in the Jesus model. The Jesus model says love someone not because they will love you back, help you stay positioned or make you rich, but love them because I (GOD) love them, like I love you.
There is no status and gain to be had, we are not loving someone to get ahead in life, instead we celebrate their value because Jesus has already set it on the cross.
Doesn’t matter if you like them or not, agree with them or not, if you are friends of enemies, the command is to LOVE.
It feels so cringey writing it, but what would the world look like with more people loving each other without any conditions and expectations?

Image Credit: Raphael Koh