Neil's blog

So, would he or wouldn’t he? Would Jesus like Vegemite (a bitter, tart tasting sandwich paste from Australia) were he to visit us in the flesh today? For those who’ve not tried it, imagine something much sharper than Marmite, & if you’ve never tasted Marmite, think on a smooth, dark brown spread from yeast extract that tastes like black salt. To my palate “disgusterous!” but to my visiting Aussie pal, Paul Cameron (see attached photo), pure nectar!

At Fullarton we’re trying to identify & follow the real Jesus. Trouble is that we’ve so many distorted images of Jesus: from the gentle, bearded lady Jesus, with long hair & glowing European skin to the buddy, buddy Jesus of the film ‘Dogma’ or the wooden, pan-faced, straight laced looking Jesus of so many Jesus films. By nature we tend to project a Jesus like us, to mould God in our image rather than allow the One True God to transform us.

We hope to let the real Jesus break us out of comfort zones, turn our world upside down & lead us in daily living. The real cheek turning revolutionary who forgave enemies; the party animal Saviour who mixed with sinners; the irate wrecker of the peace who overturned temple tables because they stopped people coming to God; in the face of fear & failure the source of a calm which passes all understanding; the suffering servant who swallowed death to dance on the grave. Jesus, comforter of the disturbed & disturber of the comfortable.

So would the real Jesus include ‘Vegemite’ in his daily diet? It might depend upon his company? What we can be sure of is that, when we allow the real Jesus to lead us, there will be lots of stretching surprises & life changing experiences. Maybe I should give vegemite another chance?

Back from a game of golf or football, my wife has low expectations from what the lads and I talked about, for usually it’s fairly superficial stuff. Sometimes it gets deeper than what we’ve been doing or heard lately, and just having a laugh.

Last week I learned that more men than women complete suicide in Scotland and that 15 in every 100,000 people take their own life, compared to 7 in 100,000 in England & Wales (i.e. over double!). Apparently we have similar statistics to Slovenia, Australia & some Scandinavian countries. There are many complicating reasons why people might take their own life, but the inability to talk our feelings out with others is a huge one. It’s called ‘Low emotional intelligence’, something us blokes in particular suffer from, finding it hard talk about how we really feel. I see it in secondary school, football circles, & all around, a macho image, which prevents us from admitting weakness, showing vulnerability and asking for help when we need it.

Old age, experience of life, family love and God’s amazing Grace have helped get me more in touch with my feelings and given me more confidence to emotionally open up to others I trust. Indeed, when I manage to be vulnerable in preaching and sharing, people tend to open up more to God’s Love and ability to reach them where they hurt and are in need.

Sadly it often takes a crisis, like a suicide or the untimely death of a loved one, to get us blokes to uncover what’s eating us; though, the temptation is always strong to keep it all bottled inside. That’s where you ladies can teach us!

When my wife comes back from a night out with the girls it’s amazing the ground they’ve covered with their chinwags! I have to admit that, when it comes to ‘emotional intelligence’, you gals are Einsteins compared to us Cave men. Perhaps I’m being too harsh?

By the way, ‘Breathing Space’ is the name of a phone line for folk who are feeling down and perhaps contemplating suicide.

Check out their web site on http: www.breathingspace.uk.com

“No Go, No Lo!”

Just back from a week of blistering heat in Turkey! I enjoyed dodging the rays, swimming in the pool, hugging air conditioners, reading books & chilling (more like sweating) with the family. Indeed, it was rare to have our 20, 18 & 15 year olds away with us! Magic!!

I hadn’t been to Turkey for over 22 years and it’s much more commercialised than I remember it. The people are friendly, their service excellent, and not a few Brit’s have bought up apartments in their Aegean coastal resorts. However, once again it struck me how far Turkey is from the Christianised Asia Minor of St Paul’s day when he, and many others spread the glorious news of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and His Way of ‘faith, hope & love’. Since then Islam has taken over leaving little trace of Christian faith. I don’t doubt that there are believers in the town of Altinkum, where we holidayed but they’re keeping a very low profile.

Over the summer, the overwhelming sense I’ve had is the need for us not to lose sight of our purpose and goal. Aim for nothing and you’ll hit it every time! It’s the same in football, business, and all walks of life, indeed aimless Christianity is hopeless Christianity. We’ve been commanded by King Jesus to ‘Go’ with him into all the world and call people to their true humanity in him. But all too easily we suffer from flat-footed (or flat bummed) faith, playing at churches, sunbathing in past glories or complaining about the new spiritual weather, stuck in a safe harbour while Jesus calls us to deep-sea fishing on the high seas. One of the main reasons western Christianity is not making similar headway to Africa, South America, China & the like, is surely that we’re not heeding the command to ‘Go!’

Where are you ‘Going’ in the run up to Christmas and beyond? What is your aim in daily living? What is going to stretch your faith, hope & love? Who is going to benefit from your sacrificial love? Who are going to be the new believers and renewed believers from your willingness to ‘Go’ and live for Christ? Some of the questions I’m asking myself on the threshold of a new season. Jesus said, “Go into all the world….and lo I will be with you always!”

As someone said, “No Go, No Lo!”

In the attached photo I'm simply preparing for the high seas folks!

“It’s all about timing, isn’t it!” A friend and his family are tenting right now and, in the face of torrential rain, about to use their kayak & dinghy for beds; perhaps in the right place at the wrong time? At ‘T-In The Park’ (music festival) other friends pitched their tent in, what they thought was an out-of-the-way, safe spot, only to become surrounded by constant drunken parties & fights; they left their tent for a short while and returned to it ransacked and robbed; right time, wrong place? Just last week, due to my delay in booking flights for a last minute week in the sun I ended up paying £300 more thank quoted before when prices shot up overnight. Again bad timing me thinks! However, on Sunday evening we had a BBQ Service in the Fullarton Church garden rain-free, the sun even shone for a spell, sensational! Right place, right time!!

On Sunday we were looking at ‘Esther’, the one without whom the whole Jewish race and coming of Jesus could‘ve been wiped out. She was in the right place at the right time to courageously stand up for her people, whatever the personal dangers! When the king gave her the chance to speak she grasped the opportunity with both hands, indeed, it was ‘for such a time as this’ that her whole life had prepared. Apart from the story of Esther we hear nothing else of her, but within minutes she affected the whole course of history.

Questions for myself in the midst of a damp summer (remember how we were complaining about the burnt grass in May/June!?) and in the wake of personal bad timing, are these, “Am I ready for Esther moment(s)” when the choices I make are critical to the salvation and wellbeing of others. What good habits & disciplines am I practising to ensure Esther moments don’t pass me by and I don’t bottle it come the crunch?

Time & space to listen & hear what God is saying to me is tops, but more than that it’s about obedience, daily doing what God wants, whatever the cost to my pride, personal space or finances. ‘A long obedience in the same direction’ is what E Peterson calls it. Mercifully, when we botch it and get our timings all wrong, God gifts fresh starts and can mix the bad, good and ugly together for good, but “Lord, make me brave enough to stand up for You when You need me most! May I be in the right place at the right time with timely silence and the right words to speak!”

Meanwhile, those of you who, like me, are scunnered (angry & depressed) by bad timing, let’s give thanks for the things we do have, rather than complain about what we don’t have. I assure you, it’s a mood changer and helps you see that, standing in the sunshine of God’s Grace, whatever life’s weather, you are truly ‘Blessed’!

p.s. Attached photo is 'wrong exercise, right place'! Me at pre-season training with Killie.

After pre-season training at Killie last week I’ve been feeling my full 48 years and more! I did my best to keep up with the running pace and managed to give some of the unfit stragglers a fright or two, breathing down their necks. I took the week off to spend time with the new crew in charge of Killie’s small, but hopefully growing, squad, as they up fitness levels and focus on a new season in the SPL. Both Mixu & Kenny (manager & assistant manager) are great blokes with new life, fresh ideas and a clear view of what they want out of the players. It’ll be another hard season but I have every confidence in them to do well!

The rest of the week was spent with my darling wife chilling out on dog walks, at the cinema, lunches out & a day trip to the island of Bute & the spectacular Mount Stuart House & grounds. The week was topped nicely with a full manse to watch the World Cup final.

I’ve still another few weeks of holiday time to take before the new church season starts in September, which leaves me with about 4 weeks pre-season planning and preparing before the ‘silly season’ of congregational life, outreach & discipleship start again. Like Killie’s new season our churches face fresh challenges too. One of the exciting prospects in Irvine is a united churches Alpha Course. Next week we meet to pray for people to find faith in Jesus and join His Team, through Alpha. How do we best do pre-season for Alpha? Surely it’s our daily loving and caring for colleagues, neighbours, family and friends, that get people closer to an Alpha Course and saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus. It’s living the faith in daily life that intrigues people into seeking the Source.

So, let’s get into pre-season training with Christ, truly walking the talk, that those we invite to courses like Alpha will want to check it out, and that we may see a wheen of folk finding in Jesus their joy, hope and peace, life in all its fullness! Now that really is something worth training for!!!