Watch out for the roots

Recently I hadn’t cut my grass for nearly 3 weeks and as you can imagine the lawn was looking very untidy, the grass was long, the weeds were thriving and the borders were messy. My excuse was that each time I set time to do it, it was raining or it had rained in the previous 24 hours! I don’t really enjoy cutting grass no sooner I have done it than it starts growing again and I have to be ready to cut it. Growth is a natural apart of life in the garden, I know if something is dying or is dead because it stops growing. I recently had to dig up a shrub that had been unable to grow since it was planted last year, it never seemed to take to the soil and it’s roots never established so it didn’t grow.

Roots are the hidden dimensions of growth in the garden, without a good roots system the plant or tree will never flourish or grow. This is the same in life, we should all be growing as people but we need to be planted well.

The bible says Christians are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail, because the hidden root system is continually drawing up water to feed the tree. The hidden inner life is often ignored, that part of us that is spiritual, that part of us which defines our character, we mustn’t neglect this or forget to feed the root system of our lives. For me prayer and stillness in my relationship with God strengthens this aspect of my life. God is the water in the river that feeds me and enables me to grow and to bear fruit in my character and spirit. I have to keep near to him or I will wither and die.

Youth is wasted on the young or is it?

I think it was George Bernard Shaw who once said, “Youth is wasted on the young!” or another Shavian way of saying it is "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." But what exactly does this mean, one response could be that it means young people have everything going for them physically; they're in the best health they will ever be in; their minds are sharp and clear but they lack patience, understanding and wisdom which results in so much wasted effort. Whereas someone who's lived and learn now knows what to do with all that ability of the body but now doesn't have the body to do it with! Another way of putting that saying is; "If I could go back to (whatever age you like) and if I knew then what I know now, life would be wonderful"

It seems to me that the youth of today don’t have a very easy time of it; Family life can breakdown, a recent poll of couples with children revealed that members of the average British household spend 34 minutes a day shouting at each other, it found that just over half the families argue at least once a day. The shouting persists for an hour or more in 35% of homes, rising to 50% in households with more than one child; If we believed all the media coverage all young people are in a gang, don’t get me wrong we do have some serious problems within  “gang culture” and the lack of good role models fuels this culture. But there are some very good examples of where young people are working hard to put something back into their communities.

In July two such projects take place under the banner of  “engage 2011”; last week in Ellesmere Port  nearly 30 Young People  from the Academy School and Catholic High school worked on community projects under the supervision of  Jenny Owen the Chaplain at the  Academy and Port Reach; this Monday in Chester  we will see Northgate  Church play host to over 100 young people and youth leaders for 3 days. During the afternoons look out for these youngsters in their  “engage 2011” tee shirts as they engage in Community Projects primarily within the Chester city centre. Both these projects are primarily financed and supported by the local churches of Chester and Ellesmere Port.

I hope you agree with me that it's great to see these youth of today in such a postive experience andbeing good news for our commuities, all too often we only read and hear bad news about teenagers!!

Look beyond the obvious

A young man was getting ready to graduate from university. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that this was all he wanted as a graduation present from his mum and dad.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.  Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box.  Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angry, he raised his voice to his father and said "With all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Quite a few years passed by and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realising that the years were passing by quickly and he had not spent any time real time with his Father since that graduation day, he thought perhaps he should go to him and make up. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a phone call telling him his father had passed away suddenly due to a heart attack, and he willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.  He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.  With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages.  And as he did, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible.  It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL.

I wonder how many times do we miss God’s blessings and answers to our prayers because they do not arrive exactly as we have expected. As you go through your week allow me to leave you with this little thought for each day; "Today I will look beyond the obvious and allow miracles to be created in my life." 

Church without walls

I read this week a story about Christian volunteers patrolling the centre of Halifax at weekends, according to a statement by West Yorkshire Police they have helped reduce crime, say West Yorkshire Police. Street Angels, an initiative of Churches Together in Halifax, are celebrating five years of ministry outside nightclubs on Friday and Saturday nights. Since they started in 2006, violent crime in the town centre has dropped by 57 per cent, prompting praise from Chief Inspector Viv Cutbill: ‘We welcome the fantastic work the Street Angels do.’ A couple of weeks ago I was in Chester City Centre at 11pm, not a time I usually go into Chester, what a different perspective you get of Chester at this time on a Saturday evening! The street were full of people enjoying the nightlife on offer and was particularly busy I think as it had been a Race Day.

I was in Chester to visit the newly set up Night Church. This is an initiative led by a local Christian Charity called The Light Project in partnership with local churches from all different denominations. It takes place in St Peters Church right next to the Cross in the centre of the City Centre and is once a month on the 2^nd Saturday from 9.30pm til 2.30am. I also met up with some Street Pastors; these are very similar to the Halifax Street Angels. Early in 2008 representatives from the Churches, Cheshire Police and the Council met to consider having Street Pastors in both Chester and Ellesmere Port. A management committee was formed and the scheme was launched.  Initially the aim was to have a team on the Streets of Chester every Friday night, and the first patrol went out in Chester city centre on Friday 27^th September 2008. In March 2009 there began a weekly, Thursday community street pastor initiative in Ellesmere Port and as numbers of volunteers have grown we now have patrols out in Chester every Friday and Saturday night. Today there are 60 volunteer Street Pastors! In just under 3 years they have removed 2,069 bottles and glasses from the streets of Chester and gave out 1,736 pairs of ‘Flip Flops’ in 2010 alone!!

I love it that Night Church, Street Pastors and the Street Angels initiatives takes the church out to where the people are instead of waiting until the people come to find the church!  The Street Pastors have five core values that motivate them: The sacredness and sanctity of Human Life; Valuing and honouring the community; Being a person of integrity; Taking personal responsibility; Promoting the growth and development of the Individual to their fullest potential. These values are fantastic and would serve us all well in our pursuit of life and community cohesion.

Look out for the roots...

I don’t know if you read recently this story concerning a man living in China who suffered from epilepsy for more than two decades, who has had a bullet removed from his head. Doctors were amazed shortly after scanning Wang Tianqing's head when they found a 23 year-old rusted bullet embedded in his skull. The farmer helped the health experts piece the story together by recalling how he had been knocked unconscious in 1988 on his way home in Zhangjiakouin city.

He said: "I thought I'd been hit by a slingshot. I saw a man standing on a hill and thought he'd hit me." Mr Tianging woke up in hospital where he was given anti-inflammatory drugs before being sent home by the doctors. Shortly after his discharge he began to experience epileptic seizures which became more severe over the next two decades. The bullet was spotted on a CAT scan during a typical hospital visit for medicine. Wang Zhiming, an attending surgeon from Neurosurgical Oncology department, said that the survival rate for being shot in the head would usually be one out of several thousand, but the bullet missed his brain's main veins.
If your problem has roots then it is evident that it began with a seed. While you are waiting to deal with the seed, maybe in the meanwhile you are watering it with your continual thoughts, words and actions. Begin by identifying the seed. What is the source of your problem? And then destroy the seed that has been sown. The problem is that every time an issue takes root, it looks so small that you want to take the small risk believing that the consequence will be little. But what you then ignore is that seed which grows and so does the consequences.

Interestingly, the Bible says, “Do not let your anger set in, before night” Why? Because, it is in that night that the seed germinates and in that time of silence, is when the roots go deeper. And the more the roots grow deeper, the harder it becomes to deal with the issue.

It was only when the doctors dealt with the bullet in Wang Tianqing's head that the epileptic seizures stopped, so for you and me it will only be when we deal with the “seed” in our lives that we will begin to deal with issues that can affect us emotional and spiritually. For me one thing I do is to take some time on a regular basis where I reflect on some of the things I do and the relationships I have and I ask God to cleanse me and help me to make sure I am dealing with the stuff on the inside of my life, than after this I surrender every area of your life into his hands. I believe if you are ready to deal with the source and begin to flee from it then the power of God will be your strength.