Neil's blog

“Have Faith!” Evelyn’s right, even George Michael’s right on this one, “You gotta have faith!” Staring over a 1,000 foot drop into the shark infested waters of 1st Division footy or the deep sea of liquidation, Rugby Park was a depressing place to be a few weeks ago. Along comes the other JC & his merry band, JN & SC, & Rugby Park’s a much brighter place, looking up not down. They’ve got the lads believing in themselves & one another again, faith is revived. Heads don’t go down when they go a goal behind as they used to, rather they push on with the faith to, not only get a goal back, but go on to win! But faith isn’t enough, you also need ‘passion’ & that’s something that’s back in their play too. And for the first team playing on the park right now there are another 11 desperate to get their chance to shine too. Long may it continue!

But what happened to our Scotland rugby team snatching defeat from the jaws of victory? Did they show faith & passion for 70 minutes only to lose it in the last 10? Is it a Scottish thing that we all too easily crumble in the face of possible success? But is winning what life’s all about anyway? Football, rugby, or whatever sport you play, may be important, but it’s not more important than ‘life or death’, whatever the great Bill Shankly might have said. But you still do need to have faith! St Paul would add to these necessities, ‘hope’ & ‘love’.

I’m now a great fan of Jimmy Calderwood, but it’s the other JC that has my entire life commitment. In Him I’m willing to put my whole life’s trust, after all He did, & continues to do, for me. Killie’s JC is a great man manager & motivator, but there’s no-one to beat THE JC, for valuing & getting you to believe in your own abilities, to work as a team with others, & live life with a passion. He frees you to play ‘blinders’ in the service of others, proving the gracious, loving presence of God in our world. So why are so many Jesus believers in Scotland looking down the way rather than up? Why so many churches which struggle to survive rather than get out there to prove God really does Love this world? Is it the real Jesus we are following, the One who was not intimidated by people who disagreed with him? Who’s our real manager?

Killie’s JC has inspired me to look with even greater faith to THE JC to get us playing more together as a team in Fullarton, Irvine, Scotland, The World. Let’s allow Him to lift our heads from staring down at the drop to see the great things we can achieve through faith in Him. Let Him help you light a candle rather than complain about the darkness! ‘Shine on!’