So just the other day I managed to scrape our immaculate 33 year old VW camper van (re-sprayed 18 months ago) down the driver’s side, pulling off the rear wheel arch in the process. The van came off worse in the contest with the rear bumper (or in fact solid steel tube) of a large 4 x 4 truck thing. Entirely my fault, I completely misjudged the distances. But that is not what I want to write about. As I jumped out of the van after this incident to assess the damage (not a scratch on the 4 x 4) I twisted awkwardly and set off a recurring weak muscle injury in my back. And that hurt. In fact, as I write it’s still hurting, so I am typing this kneeling on the deck as that is the most comfortable position I have found so far ….
It made me think back to when I damaged this particular muscle the first time (I have two recurring muscle problems in my back … the other one was done when I attempted to carry my wife up the stairs at a weekend conference …). Store ship was always an evolution that many tried to get out of. A major store ship was a ‘clear lower deck’, which meant of course that everyone had to take part … unless you had a really good excuse. And by ‘eck there were always some great excuses. You could always guarantee that about 10 minutes in the phone calls would start coming in for (it has been said) mainly Chief Petty Officers. These were normally from an oppo on another ship and it was ‘essential’ that they had to go off the ship for a couple of hours. Anyway, we were storing HMS Southampton ready to go to the Falklands for 6 month and the POs mess were bringing on the beer. Barrels and barrels of CSB (Courage Special Brew). It was a long way through the ship to the stowage in the void spaces up fwd, and it had been a long day. Some of the guys were carrying two barrels, one in each arm, while I was sensibly carrying only one. In our wish to get this whole thing done and dusted quickly I made the mistake of attempting two, and it was then that this muscle went. And it’s that muscle that went when I jumped out of the van. After pranging it.
In the prayer that Jesus taught us (we call it ‘The Lord’s prayer’), there is a line that says:
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew Chapter 6 verse 13.
Temptation is one of those things that keeps coming back, sometimes it’s your own fault when you put yourself in a position or place where you know you have a weakness (like if you have a problem with alcohol it’s probably not best to go down the pub). But often temptation creeps up on you, and for no real reason that you can pin down, before you know it you end up falling into whatever trap it is. Or sometimes you just don’t think, it’s not a conscious thing but you end up in the position of being tempted … My back muscle is a bit like that, if I carry too much heavy stuff the odds are its gonna go, so I don’t carry too much heavy stuff. But like this time, I just didn’t think about what I was doing, and it went. But the thing is that being tempted itself is not actually wrong. It’s when we get tempted to do something and actually do it that the snags start. Whatever it is, maybe the kids are driving you mad and the temptation is to hit them rather than just send them to the naughty stair or whatever … it’s your response to that temptation that is important… or shall I have another beer and drive home … you get the idea. And you will keep getting tempted in the areas that you are weakest in …
My back is weak in this particular spot, and there is nothing I can do about that, but I can take steps to ensure that I don’t do anything stupid to aggravate it. Even now all these years after that store ship and decision to carry two barrels of CSB, I will do something un-intentionally that sets it off.
But the Bible also says that God will forgive us when we get stuff wrong, so if we do fall to a temptation (it’s called ‘sin’ in the Bible) and do something stupid there is a way back … all we have to do is ‘repent’ (ie turn away from what we have done), and because of what Jesus has done for us that forgiveness is guaranteed… so if you have acted upon some kind of temptation and done something you regret, take this amazing verse on board …
If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. 1 John Chapter 1 verses 8 – 10.
So, I will be taking extra care of the back from here on in … and of course getting the van back to its former glory.
Until next time …
Image Credit: Nicole Mason

Over the summer there have been a number of changes in the life of my family. I have started to realise that I never do anything simply. So we have moved across to North Wales, joined a new church, my son has started a new school and obviously we are building a new network of local friends.
When I say I never do things simply, these changes were all motivated by one thing: our boy needed to start a new school.
However, I have also revisited my own faith over the summer. I decided to ask myself some very important questions:

1. How is my relationship with Jesus working?
2. What and how am I investing in this relationship?
3. What changes do I need to make in my life in order to grow closer to Jesus in the future?

Now, as you will know if you have been following CVM for any length of time, we do love a Top 10 list. These lists are often fun, playful and not a little bit controversial. We also love living differently, living by a different code and you can see what this looks like in our fantastic resource called ‘The Code’. Well, over the summer I came up with a ‘Top Ten Values to Live By…’ These ten values are personal to me, yet universally important to all of us. I would like to share each of these values with you over the course of time and future blogs. Hopefully, you find them inspiring and maybe you might choose to think through some of the values by which you live too.
The first value in this list is: ‘I will relentlessly pursue God, and when I lose sight of Him I will hunt Him down!’
I don’t know about you, but I have never lived a life where I have constantly felt the presence of God in me. There have been times when I have felt His presence massively, and I suppose at those moments I have felt like I am on top of the mountain. Then there have also been times when I have felt like God is so elusive, I am desperate for His guidance but He seems nowhere to be found and that is a little like being in a very dark valley. I guess this is why so often my go to book in the Bible is the Psalms. The writers in this book, particularly David, seem to have so much in common with me. As Robbie Williams once sang ‘life is a rollercoaster…’ and this is something that I am really well acquainted with.
But here is the thing, in the past I have had the tendency to just accept that this is part of life. But now I think differently. Most of the time when I have lost the ‘felt’ sense of God’s presence, I have also noticed that I became much more committed to that old way of doing life that I have previously called ‘self-determination.’ For any number of reasons I began to work out my life on my own again, without waiting for God to help me make the better choices.
I am not saying that this is the only reason for losing the sense of God’s presence, but there has been a bit of a correlation between the two in my own life.
It was once said of David that he ‘strengthened himself in the Lord’ (1 Samuel 30). The context of this statement was that all of David’s trusted wingmen and band of brothers had suffered a great loss, for which they wanted to blame David. So they turned on him and wanted to kill him. If ever there was a time that David felt utterly alone, this was it. But instead of just accepting the feeling of total abandonment, he hunted God down and found his strength in Him. And then, he went on to achieve a massive victory with the help of the men who wanted to kill him.
So let me encourage you today, espescially if you are not feeling God’s presence right now, to keep on pursuing Him. Be relentless, hunt Him down – He wants to be found and He will strengthen you in this moment of despair.
But, even if you are feeling God’s presence in your life, if you feel really close to Him – stay alert, keep your focus on Him. We all live with ebbs and flows, we all feel encouraged and discouraged but the Lord is steadfast and His love for us never changes.

“I will relentlessly pursue God, and when I lose sight of Him I will hunt Him down”.

 
Image Credit: Conner Bowe

So, here is a question that I suspect lots of you reading might want to comment on, so feel free. The question is simply this; is chivalry dead?
Let me start with a story. It is stated that Sir Walter Raleigh, when he invented the chopper bike, no wait sorry, let me start again. Raleigh was an English gentleman, writer, poet and lots more. The story goes that when he met Queen Elizabeth 1st he threw his coat over a muddy puddle, to let her walk across said muddy puddle without getting her royal feet wet.
I tell this story to highlight the work of chivalry, but is it still relevant or is it like the cassette tape, VHS and mullets, it has had its time and is no longer the done thing? (editors note cassettes are still in use in my house).
Maybe we need to start by exploring what chivalry may look like in 2018, that seems like a good place to start.
In 2017 The Metro ran an article about some research carried out by Match.com, which revealed that 73% of single women say that chivalry is dead, based on their experiences of the modern man.
Ok, so this seems to suggest that chivalry is lacking, but how is it actually being defined? The research showed that the top 5 types of chivalry women actually like are:

1. Call when he says he will/ (84%)
2. Making sure you get home safely (83%)
3. Not cancelling date plans last minute (82%)
4. Sending you a quick text throughout the day (80%)
5. Turning off his phone at the dinner table on a date (78%)

73% of women say that chivalry is dead. Metro, 2017
So, let’s base this then on just these definitions of chivalry, does that work for you? Is this stuff important still? It seems to me that this type of chivalry focuses on us fellas being reliable, committed, considerate and trustworthy; men of integrity.
OK, cards on the table. I have been married for 17 years, so I am not up to speed on the dating game. But I do have 2 beautiful daughters who, over time, will be running towards this stuff. As their father, I am looking for men who understand chivalry based on these definitions. I want my girls to find men who are reliable, committed, trustworthy, full of integrity and considerate towards my girls. I am also looking for a lot more things, but it doesn’t seem fair to list it all here, it would take too long. Point is, this is important and I want to see a bit more chivalry if it looks like this.
But, I also want my girls to find a man who loves Jesus. This isn’t an add on, this is central and core for me in the way my wife and I are raising our girls and forming them into amazing women in the future. Now, here is the problem, we have a serious shortage of young, single Christian men!
In the UK we have 2.4 million single Christian women who want to meet, date, and marry single Christian man. This works out in our churches at a ratio of 1 man to every 2 women. This problem not only impacts Christian women today, but also has a huge knock-on effect for generations to come.
If any of this impacts you or gets you thinking then let me suggest you check out this website: www.engage-mcmp.org.uk
Engage is a national network of Christian organisations working to promote positive relationships in the UK church and make Christian marriage possible. Engage will be launching a brand-new book in November of this year. It will be packed with practical stats, consultations and answers to how the church, (me and you!) can have a strategy and approach to at least start exploring this issue and ultimately see a culture of change.
I am in, not only because of my two princesses on their way up, but for your daughters, your sister who is single or the loved ones you know. Oh, and go and throw your coat over a muddy puddle for someone!
 
Image Credit: Dmytro Tolokonov

Over the last few weeks, well 6 to be accurate, I have been able to spend some good time with my children. We did the normal day trips out to the zoo and other locations that were utterly mobbed by parents just like me. A look of desperation in our eyes, exhausted from having the children on their summer holidays, mixed with hope and an inevitability that back to school was just days away.
But, having sown that picture of misery mixed with fun, this summer was a really valuable one for me, as I learn to treasure and seize these moments as they happen.
What I am talking about is the relationship that is growing with my eldest child, an 11-year-old, incredibly beautiful and profound deep thinker. She is navigating her world and asking the questions that matter for her life. I think this is a great phase for us fellas and perhaps one where we can really come online. Maybe you are a dad who has thrived on the broken sleep and nappies, good for you, personally I am enjoying this next phase.
This got me thinking about a bible verse in Jeremiah 6:16.

Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Training and discipling, mentoring and shaping the generation to come is essential. Gradually I have seen my daughter come to me to help navigate her mind, questions and paths with the wisdom from her old dad’s journey. (If she actually takes this wisdom and implements it is another issue altogether, but the point is the exchange is at least happening!)
For our children, or the children around us that we have a positive impact on, the process of rights of passage from childhood to adult hood is one that needs our support, guidance and stability. How did you cross that threshold from being a boy to a man? Did you get a car? Mark a line in the sand by some sort of initiation? I think our society is in desperate need for this approach to young lives. For them to see the bar, the target and the measure and then to really know when they have reached it, crossed and ‘got there’ is vitally important.
I was at the gym a few nights back skipping for my grand challenge (4 hours non-stop skipping) and I was watching a programme about young black men in London producing ‘drill’ music and basically stabbing each other. I am not trying to simplify these issues, as history tells us there is a melting pot of problems that culminate in this desperate pattern of destruction in these young lives. But, I do believe that when lives are shaped, invested in, loved and allowed to be taken on a journey that makes the transitions into adulthood, whilst seeking to listen and build rather than burn their hopes, dreams and passions, then and only then will we see a change.
Listening and giving wisdom isn’t only about sharing our pearls of knowledge, it is more about listening, understanding and seeing the shape, size and flavour of their journey and how we steer and guide within that rather than mould our life and experience over theirs.
I think that this process takes on even more significance and beauty when we do all of this through the power of prayer and presence of the Holy Spirit. When we invest for the gospel, use the tools of prayer and the Bible to align and calibrate the process of maturity, passion, dreams and identity in the generation to come we will see things happen that will shatter our expectations.
 
Image Credit: Alberto Bigoni

I was listening to a podcast recently as the guys were talking about ‘live ammo’ as a way of describing the reality of the life we live. This isn’t a dress rehearsal in which we get to use blanks and simulate each days situations. We are using live ammo and the shots are real, the hits are real too!
In the bible, we read this from the book of James Chapter 3:3-8

‘Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also, the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.’

Live ammo. Every day we speak live ammo, our words are like 5.56mm rounds, 7.62mm armour piecing or even the .50Cal! It is so easy to fire off a few shots, at our kids, families, that bloke in the Audi who is sitting on your bumper and as he goes by you send a sniper round through his window hoping to hit his heart.
We can also turn this live ammo on ourselves too! Self-speak can be so destructive, ‘you have always been a failure, you will never amount to anything, you are an idiot and always will be!’
Social media is a fertile ground too for live ammo – the virtual reality kind! We can jump into YouTube or Facebook and fire a full magazine of live ammo into the lives of other people. We might think it hits no one and does any damage, after all ‘it’s just having a vent’ right?
Nah, it will find a target and land with massive force and damage.
So, what do we do? Well I asked Google what to do with live ammo and how do I dispose of it. Basically, Google told me to take it to a higher power and I liked that.
Go to the police and hand it in and they can dispose of it safely without anyone, (including you) getting hurt!
We take our problems with live ammo to a higher power to get it sorted. I like that.
This battle to control our tongues, our words and the force they can carry over others and ourselves is a battle we need God in. He is the higher power, call on him, in the heat of the moment when the ammo is loaded surrender it, yield it to the holy spirit. This could be an hourly, daily and weekly thing at the start, but I do think that over time we will regularly surrender the live ammo in our lives.
Just a thought
 
Editors note
Whilst in the Royal Navy, every time we came back from a live firing or had had a loaded magazine / weapon in our possession we had to make a declaration and subsequently sign to say …
I have no live rounds or empty shell cases in my possession Sir
Obviously we faced serious charges if subsequently we were caught with any ammo.
Could be a good thought to start the day with …
 
Image Credit: Matthew Brodeur

I have two passions in life (that is apart from my family)—following Jesus and Welsh Rugby. One of these passions brings me unbridled joy and a purpose to life, the other brings me ecstatic joy in the moment and a fair bit of disappointment along the way. I do believe that being a Welsh Rugby fan has taught me to really embrace and enjoy those fleeting victorious moments because we never know how long they will last.
At the time of writing this blog, we have recently enjoyed a Summer test series win over South Africa and Argentina—it is the first Summer test series win for Wales in over a decade. However, I am bracing myself for the Autumn test matches later in the year. Could we be successful twice in one calendar year?
Let’s just wait and see!
A couple of days ago I was meeting up with a guy in Cardiff, and we started to talk about building a movement of men across Wales, men who are fully focussed on living well, giving it everything they’ve got, never cheating, never treating others badly. Men who are strong, have integrity and honesty, great husbands, boyfriends, fathers, sons, brothers and really great mates that you can rely on too. We talked about having the energy to do all this consistently, to never giving up when it gets tough, and how we both believed that following Jesus gives us that energy that we will always need to do this.
Man, I am so convinced that our world needs all of us to be different from the culture we inhabit. We so need to be men that live with an opposite spirit that constantly puts others first. But this is an incredibly high calling, if you are anything like me you might manage it for a day, a week if you are super disciplined but to be like it ALL the time—that is tough!
The Bible says something like this:

“but you, man of God, run for your life from all of this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.”
(1 Timothy 6:11-12, The Message)

As we continued to talk about becoming this kind of movement, my mate told me something about Richie McCaw, the greatest All Blacks captain of all time. Richie McCaw is one of the most decorated players in the history of the game, there was literally nothing more for him to achieve when it came time to hang up his boots. He was consistently the best, so fully-focussed, so driven, so energetic—the man was a human rugby machine.
But here is what my mate told me: whenever Richie McCaw left the field, whilst all the other players were celebrating their victories, their achievements, their conquests, Richie would take himself to a quiet corner of the changing room. In that quiet space, he would take his journal, turn it to a completely new page and he would write down two words:
START AGAIN!
No matter whether it was in victory or defeat. No matter if he was on top of the world, or in rugby’s equivalent of the pit. Richie McCaw’s attitude was to leave the past where it belonged, enjoy the moment whenever he could and then start all over again.
I am convinced that this is how Richie McCaw became the best leader that rugby has ever had. He never lived his playing career in his past achievements or failures, he always pushed on to the goals that lay ahead and he did this consistently, throughout his career.
There are so many life lessons in this. So many of us are struggling to find that new, clean page in the story of our lives. We look over our shoulder, either to constantly relive better moments from our past, or to regret so many of the twists and turns our lives have taken over the years.
But here is the incredible deal, the great news of Jesus is that we do get to turn to a new, clean page and Jesus writes ‘Start Again’. He writes it in his own blood and says to each of us— ‘the past has gone; your future is in my hands now, let’s go live it together!’
This is literally the only way to live our lives well, and this is the way, together, we will build a movement of mighty men in this nation. Men committed to following Jesus, knowing that he is their energy to live so differently, to live so much better, to make a massive difference to everyone around us and to do it consistently.
In Wales we have a saying when we see a rugby player like Richie McCaw. Whether you are a Welsh speaker or not, you know this phrase: Chwarae Teg—fair play. Over years, I have said Chwarae Teg to Richie McCaw many, many times.
And to you, if you can start that brand-new page with Jesus, letting him write ‘Start Again’ and you can keep doing this every day for the rest of your life—I say to you too, Chwarae Teg—fair play.

“If I fail I will not give up. He never gives up on me!”
The Code XII
codelife.org

Image Credit: World Rugby

I remember seeing a Facebook post a mate of mine had posted recently and it said this:

“Jesus leaving the 99 to find 1 seems irrational and senseless – until that 1 is you.”

Over this year I have been trying to reflect a little bit about the grace of God and the rescue mission he deployed. One of the conclusions I came to is that this grace and forgiveness thing, the rescue and the mercy that is on offer is absolutely offensive and outrageous.
Look around you, people living however they want to, doing whatever they want without care or regard for others. You can see the vilest acts and people committing terrible deeds of hate and rage against other. Yet we see in the bible that Jesus, dying on the cross, somehow made a way through for all people. A way to be forgiven, a way to be healed restored and not left outside the home, but welcomed in as a dearly loved son or daughter.
This is offensive. Why should they be shown mercy? Why should they be given a pass and this incredible gift of generosity and kindness? Why should they get to be forgiven when they have hurt people, taken life or lived selfishly without any regard to others around them? This is just offensive.
That is….until it becomes about me. I want justice. Sorry, let me explain what I mean by that: I want justice on others but not for me. Mercy and grace, I am happy to have, but justice, well that’s for those wrong’ens. (Essex term)
Jesus, left the 99 and went on a rescue mission for the 1. The lost, dirty, vulnerable, sinful, scummy, life messed up 1.
The cross of Jesus is offensive, how can Jesus forgive like this? How can he love like this? How does his death set even the vilest sinner free? Why would he leave 99 healthy, nice, clean, good looking people and go after the dirty rotten 1 that has decided to do their own thing and live their life ignoring him? What’s offensive is that even if they turn from that life at the last minute and call on his mercy to save them….he does!!! That’s offensive.
Jesus loves you, he loves me and whilst there is breath in our bodies, whilst there is time, his pursuit after us is relentless. He gave everything on the cross, for even the vilest ‘sinner’ to be saved. (Or how we measure sin anyway, all of us have failed in reality!)
So, maybe it’s just too offensive for you, the cross and forgiveness of Jesus is too unbelievable. For me, I literally throw myself onto this grace, I don’t feel worthy, I can’t point at others and withhold this gift of grace, Jesus won’t, he didn’t with me.

 

This is part two of a blog series on finding the narrow path in every situation of life. This week, Jon explores what it looks like to ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’
I am not the kind of guy who dreams a lot. I remember being at a CVM Regional Day a few years ago when Carl Beech said that there were two things necessary for a good night’s sleep: a soft pillow and a clear conscience. I am convinced that I have had more really great nights of sleep for taking that advice than I would have otherwise. That said, for a number of months I had been having a recurring dream, I might even call it a recurring nightmare. Every night it was exactly the same!
The dream went like this…
I would be driving along the M6 motorway and as I passed one of the services I would look down to my dashboard and see that I only had enough fuel for the next twenty miles – every time the next services would be twenty-one miles away. As the dream progressed, clearly my fuel gauge would get lower and lower. Then, I would literally be a couple of miles away from the next services when my engine would begin to splutter, lose power and then cut out.
The engine always cut out with the services fuel station in sight. It always felt so near and yet so far. In this dream, I did not once make it to the fuel station. I always ended up stranded on the side of the motorway.
Over the course of the few months that I was having this recurring nightmare, I began to realise how strong my resolution was to make it to the fuel station on my own. I literally felt utterly determined to come through on this, there was no way I needed help. Whatever else happened I was the one who was going to make it right!
Yet, as I said earlier, I did not once make it to the fuel station!
At the time I told a mate of mine about this recurring dream. He asked me the very question that some of you are already asking as you read this blog – why did you not pull over into the hard shoulder and call the AA to bring you enough fuel to get to the next services safely? Why did you not reach out to the emergency service that would get you out of the mess in you were in? After all, I am and always have been a fully paid up member of the AA.
Ironically, during the same period, my car broke down twice on the M6 and I did end up on the hard shoulder waiting for help. I hasten to add, the reasons for my car breaking down were never due to a lack of fuel. However, the situations remained uncannily similar.
As I stood on the side of the motorway, waiting to be rescued, I could not help but think through many of my personal life choices both good and bad.
A few years ago, I heard a Christian speaker say that he was not only incredibly grateful to Jesus Christ for rescuing him in a very dramatic moment of enlightenment, but he was also grateful to Jesus for saving him every day since that first ‘Damascus Road’ moment. This speaker was very aware of the Gospel story of Jesus going to the cross, paying the penalty for all our sins, and bringing us back into a healthy relationship with God. However, he was also equally aware of his need to be rescued every day, the need to choose Christ every day, the need to realign all of our lifestyle with God and walk in the direction of the narrow path.
Throughout my adult life, I have battled with my determination to ‘come through’ in life. I have often leant on my own understanding rather than trusting God with all my heart, I have sometimes struggled to align my ways with His ways and therefore remain straight and true on the narrow path. But here’s the thing, I also know many more blokes who have battled with that same determination, than other blokes who have found it easy to live out Proverbs 3:5-6 consistently.
I do take heart from the fact that there are many of us living with this same strong self-determination. We are not in the minority and we are certainly not on our own.
I do not have the recurring nightmare anymore, and that is simply because I am becoming more and more committed to embracing my own responsibilities but, crucially, doing it with the determination to live the life that God has chosen for me – it is seriously better than choosing my own path in life. In a way, it means that I fill the car with fuel, and I do everything to ensure that it is fit for purpose. But in those moments when the car takes me by surprise and I am tempted to work it out on my own—I don’t. I get the help I need before I get stranded.
To me, that is what it looks like to find the narrow path that leads to Life. Yes, we all accept our own responsibilities, but given that we can all have access to the Sovereign God of all the Universe who wants to help us along the way—why would we not ask for help?

It had been a particularly tough first few months of the year. My wife and I had become increasingly aware that our son was not going to make it into mainstream school. We sat in a number of education healthcare planning meetings, listening to one missed target after another. As parents, we had been saying for quite some time that he should be referred to specialist school but getting that referral was proving a challenging mountain to scale. On top of this, a pretty routine operation for our son had turned into a procedure with further complications and we were told that he would now need a further three operations over the coming fourteen months.
What else could go wrong?
Well!
The phone rang. It was our local mechanic. Our car had only gone in for the handbrake to be fixed, now I was being told that there was £600+ worth of repairs to be done. I felt my heart sink and I felt despair beginning to set in.
A few days earlier I had been talking to a very wise mate of mine. I just wanted to explain to him all my woes and difficulties. I wanted him to give me the ‘quick’ solution, the ultimate words of wisdom.
Instead he read the following verses:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4

I have to be honest, there has not been a whole lot of counting our trials as pure joy. It has been more like pushing through and just waiting for things to get that little bit easier. I have read these verses many times over the years, but I think all I have ever done is give them intellectual assent at best.
But then my mate went one step further. He went on to say that in every situation in life, there is a narrow path that leads to life and that is where we find the pure joy of becoming everything God ever intended us to be.
I have since been meditating on these verses from Matthew 7:13-14. I have always interpreted them as narrow is the path that leads to salvation and that is absolutely true. The truth is that if we are to find peace with God, then we have to embrace the narrow path that leads to Christ through his death on the cross and ultimately through his resurrection. However, when we dedicate our lives to following Christ, we are also called to live our entire lives only on the narrow path that leads to life. It is as we learn to do this that we can begin to experience pure joy even as we go through the various trials of life.
For so many of us, as followers of Christ, we can sometimes live as ‘practical agnostics’. By this I mean, we go through the stuff of life, the tough stuff, the painful stuff and even the great stuff without ever asking where God is in our unique set of circumstances? Where is the pure joy? What does God have for me in this moment? In what ways will I become mature and complete, not lacking in anything through this?
I was talking to one of my colleagues about this finding the narrow path in every situation in life just after I had the news of my £600+ car bill. We both agreed that it just feels so hard to live with a different attitude towards our struggles. So, it will be little surprise to you that the question we both had was this: how on earth do we find the narrow path in every life situation, that pure joy and just how do we avoid the drama and the panic that so often, naturally, sets in?
So, my quest is to find some insights into this. On a personal level, to stop living like a practical agnostic. To learn to trust God, more and more, in every situation, both in the good and in the bad. I feel convinced that this is something that doesn’t necessarily come naturally but is something we all need to learn! I am also totally convinced that this is simply another part of our discipleship and our growth! More than this, I am convinced that this is massively important if we are to genuinely reach all our mates for Jesus, because ultimately the world turns to Christ based on our testimony, the testimony of a life that used to be lived without God but is now lived intentionally in relationship with him!
In my next blog, I want to explore some of the disciplines that we can use to help us find the narrow path in every life situation and how that can massively impact the way we are able to witness to our mates.

FIVE: Master of YOUR universe

We made it, the final blog. Thank you for joining me on this journey, I wanted to finish this series with a simple invite.
We started by exploring who Jesus claimed to be, set against his statement that all authority on earth and in heaven was his, ie him being the master of the universe.
So far I have tried to indicate that Jesus backed this up by showing authority over the physical, natural, supernatural and spiritual dimensions, or universes. The last universe is your heart and life.
In presenting this stuff the question at the end mustn’t be ignored or left out even if it does put us on the spot a bit. Jesus did and said all this because the universe he wants to be master of is you and me. Our universe, the depth of our hearts and minds, the spaces no one see’s and ultimately the one that is to come, your eternity!
I made a choice in my life to say yes to Jesus and to follow him. It has come with a cost too, because when you say yes to Jesus it is on his terms. He wants to lead you, guide you and impact your life, it will require surrender, sacrifice and trust even in the moments and times in your life are the most painful.
Are you in? Maybe you are and have been for decades, or maybe you have been reading these blogs and you are not yet following Jesus.

“Follow me”

Have a read in your bible of Matthew 9:9-13
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Time and time again Jesus invited people to follow him, rich, poor, those on the edges of society and also those leading society. The call was the same to all of them: ‘will you follow me?’
A couple of millenia on the facts about who Jesus is haven’t changed. His life and the cross, his resurrection and the meaning and purpose behind it all hasn’t changed. The invite stays the same…will you follow me?
If you do follow Jesus and have said YES to him, then hear this: after telling us that all authority is his, and proving it in his life, he tells you to ‘GO!’
Go and share who Jesus is, love him and follow him with all your heart and love others too!
Let’s go.

Photo Credit: Kevin Lee