Football you either love it or loathe it!!

Football you either love it or loathe it, and if you are a regular reader of this column you know I love it!! Last night I was at the AGM of the football club that the church I lead helped to set up, the club’s called Crossway FC. And its has been growing and developing over the past 20 yrs and recently received FA Charter Standard Status, only the 2^nd club in the Chester and District League to have this accolade. The Charter Standard Scheme is best practice guide that sets standards of coaching, administration and child protection for all clubs outside the Football League and Premier League.  It was great to celebrate the achievements of the season with the many presentations to players and club officials! Talking of celebrations, may I also offer my own to Chester FC on promotion in their very first season. Its great to see this “phoenix club” going from strength to strength in what can only be good for the city. Today was the FA Cup Final Day, the one football match when I was a boy that you could watch on TV that was “live” I have to admit to being slightly more excited than usual, this is because the football team that I have supported since I was a boy, Stoke City FC, were in the final for the very first time in their 148 year long history!  

Now what is it about football at this level that rouses such deep feelings?  Some people say that team sport is ritualised warfare.  I suppose it’s better to hoof a bag of wind around a field for 90 minutes than to lob missiles at one another.  Others see a displaced religion in the game. Certainly when you reflect on football there are some similarities to Christian worship:

Where do large crowds gather to sing and chant?

Churches and football grounds.

Where do large crowds raise their hands in the air in exultation?

Churches and football grounds.

Where do people gather to express their collective aspirations, their feelings and their emotions?

Churches and football grounds.

But of course the resemblance is only superficial.  Bread and wine is not the same as pies and Bovril.  The adulation of our football heroes falls short of worship but only just!  And all our footballers can do is play football to the limit of their ability.  They give us delight when they show their skills, and satisfaction when they win on our behalf.  So what is that makes football so religious – it’s certainly true there are some familiar characteristics with going to a football match and attending church. Where else would you find groups of adults singing and gathering together to worship? Where can you belong to a crowd of people who are all following the same thing?. We are making the players into idols, and the ‘professional game’ some would say is in crisis. The amount of money invested in the top clubs is immoral and can sometimes make the players and managers seem “god like” in their adoration and following. Don’t get me wrong I love football and I was really hoping Stoke win the FA Cup, but it is not the No 1 thing in my life; For me there is only person who is really worth following and worshipping, he is Jesus Christ, but I do think the church could learn a thing or to in how to attract more supporters and attendees from this beautiful game!

Don’t judge a book by its cover

I’m sure you’ve come across the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”  It means not to judge people or things by what they look like from the outside. People shouldn't be judged by how they look but be judged by their actions. It actually means that people cannot be judged by what they appear like to you at first, it is necessary to get to know them and "read" them before you can judge them It means not to judge people by the way they look or act. Something very powerful can be inside them.
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his farm at the side of the road. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."  "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."  The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got 89p. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure," said the farmer.  And with that he let out a whistle, "Here, Dolly!" he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would." With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

Now the world is full of people who need someone who understands and for us to understand we must not make our judgment of them from what we just see on the outside! So next time you meet someone for the first time, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’!!

How can I know God exists?

In the course of my work I will sometimes be asked by a person one of the most difficult questions to answer, how do I know God exists? I always admit it’s not the easiest question to answer especially in just a single sentence, however I do find this short illustration might helps

If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. They are living their life with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there above them. All we need to do to begin the answer to our question about God is to begin to look at life through the eyes of faith and then we may be able to see that God can be found as we begin to look in the right directions. Symbolically we need to look up, away from ourselves to look to heaven, not that heaven is literally above us but to realise that the Kingdom of Heaven (God) is actually very near and we access it by faith in believing the good news about Jesus Christ.

Days of Celebration

Today, Thursday, is the beginning of the three day celebration of Easter - the most important time in the year for Christians. This period is one big celebration, remembering the last supper, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, and the Resurrection to new life.

Maundy Thursday, the name 'Maundy' is derived from the Latin word “mandatum”, meaning a commandment. Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, gave this following commanded:

'And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.'  These words are at the heart of being a follower of Jesus. Also  this day, Christians remember the Last Supper. During the meal Jesus took bread and wine and shared them with his disciples. Christians continue to share bread and wine as part of their worship in church as they symbolise the body (bread) and the blood (wine) and remind us of his death.

On Good Friday we remember the day that Jesus was killed on the cross. He was nailed to a wooden cross by Roman soldiers. This is the reason why the cross is an important sign for Christians today.  At Easter people eat hot cross buns which have a cross shape on the top.

It can seem strange that a day of death and suffering is known as 'Good' Friday. There are a number of theories as to why the day marking the crucifixion of Jesus is known in this way.  The word 'Good' may be a different spelling or rendering of 'God' or it may have another, now lost, meaning of 'holy'. Another theory is that the tragedy of the crucifixion of Jesus brought great 'good' to his followers.

Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, three days after he was executed. The events of Easter Day separate Christianity our from all other world religions and is the very heart of Christianity. After Jesus was crucified on the Friday (now known as Good Friday), his body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave tomb. The tomb was guarded by Roman Soldiers and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body. On the Sunday, Mary Magdalene, followed later by some of Jesus' disciples visited the tomb and found that the stone had been moved, and that Jesus' body had gone

For me the next few days are days of celebration – the death and resurrection of Jesus means that in the midst of life we can find hope. Has he risen or He has risen!  If he has then everything has changed.

Have a great Easter everyone!!

Palm Sunday and Holy Week

This Sunday is Palm Sunday and for Christians all over the world it is a day of celebration. This day marks the beginning of a week of contemplating and remembering the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago.  For many churches this will mean Palm Crosses are given out for people to take home, these serve as a visual reminder of what this season of Easter is all about. This day Christians have come to call Palm Sunday is a reminder of the day when Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem. It was during a time of feasting and celebration for the Jews known as Passover. The celebrations meant that numbers in the city had swollen to many times more than normal as Jews from all over the region flocked to Jerusalem to join with others. The city was full to bursting with people everywhere. It was a time when the Jews were living under Roman rule. As Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, people who heard of what this man had been doing began to shout and throw palm branches. The entry into the city soon became a procession with the crowds shouting Hosanna, which means save us.

This year invite you into the dramatic events and stories from this final week of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. With the help of the ‘The Passion Experience’, the Easter story will be told in real-time, you can follow the dramatic last week of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection with a series of free messages via text, email or twitter.  All this will start on 16th April and reach a dramatic climax on Easter Sunday a week later, the amazing Easter story will unfold as it is sent in 30 messages to your phone, smart-phone or computer.  Each message is sent at the time the events would have happened as if from observers witnessing the story 2000 years ago.  To get involved then visit the Hoole Baptist Church, sign up page at www.thepassionexperience.org.uk/hbc or from your mobile phone text ‘hbc’ to 07797 803730. Throughout the week I’ll also be using twitter and facebook to follow the story, so come and join me in what is the most amazing week in human history!

Prayer: are you getting through to God...

I don’t know about you but sometime I find prayer and finding time to pray can be really difficult. Talking to God and God talking to you, which at its heart prayer is, is an amazing privilege and experience. There not many of us who would turn down a request to be prayer for especially at a moment of crisis. Now I just hate those telephone systems where you have to press buttons and hold on while they play you atrocious music whilst you wait endlessly to speak to the right person! What if God installed one of those systems on the prayer channel? I wonder if we would come across some of these automated responses:

Thank you for calling Heaven: For English press 1; For other languages press 2: For Welsh, the language of heaven, please hold.

Please select one of the following options:

• Press zero for a chat.
• Press 1 to apologise.
• Press 2 for Requests.
• Press 3 for Thanksgiving.
• Press 4 for Complaints.

I am sorry. All of our angels and saints are busy helping other enquiries right now.   However, your prayer is important to us, and we will answer it as soon as one of the heavenly host is free.   Please stay on the line.

• If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, please press 1.
• If you would like to hear Aled Jones singing “I’m walking in the air”, please press 2.
• If you would like to sing your favourite hymn, please go ahead.
• If you are a wondering why be a Christian, please enter J-O-H-N, followed by the numbers 3-1-6.
• If you are an atheist, why are you calling?

For answers to nagging questions about suffering, people of other faiths, dinosaurs, life on other planets, and where Noah's Ark is, please would you wait until you arrive, there will be a Q&A session with God the Father during your welcome and orientation seminar.

If you are a theologian and understand transubstantiation, the ontological proof of the existence of God, and the difference between pre- and post-millennialism, please report to the angel Gabriel on arrival in heaven.  We haven’t a clue what you’re on about, and we’d like you to explain it to us.

Our computers show that you have already prayed today.  Please hang up and try again tomorrow.   The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday.   Please pray again on Monday after 9:30 am.

• If you wish to renew your subscription, please visit your local church next Sunday.
• If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local church leader!! 

Thank you for calling and have a divine day!

Mums are special...

This Sunday we celebrate Mothers Day. Mothers know that a child's growth Is not measured by height or years or grade. It is marked by the progression of Mummy to Mum to Mother…

The Images of Mother
4 years of age - my mummy can do anything!
8 years of age - my mum knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 years of age - my mother doesn’t know everything! 14 years of age - my mother? She wouldn’t have a clue.
16 years of age - mother? She’s so five minutes ago.
18 years of age - that old woman? She’s way out of date!
25 years of age - well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 years of age - before we decide, let's get mum's opinion.
45 years of age - wonder what mum would have thought about it?
65 years of age - wish I could talk it over with mum.

On this Sunday we have a great opportunity to give that recognition to mums especially those mums who have decided to give up on their career to look after their children. Let’s say thanks to our mums! All too often we can take our mums for granted - so it's a good thing that Mother's Day is around to remind us to celebrate an important woman in our lives. Quite simply, none of us would be here without our mums!  To celebrate this event Who let the dads out will be holding an Open Day at Hoole Lighthouse Centre on Sat April 2nd.  The morning will be packed with activities for children and dads to make a special surprise for mum, including cupcake decorating and card making.  It’s a fantastic opportunity for any dads or male carers to come along with their children and see what we’re all about. You’ll get valuable time with your children, and mum will get some well deserved time off, everyone wins! “The session starts for dads and their children from 10am. Mums are invited to come along from 11.30am to view the creative endeavors of their loved ones and enjoy a picnic lunch, finishing when all the food is gone. It should be an extremely enjoyable family event”.

Let’s say thanks to our mums! All too often we can take our mums for granted - so it's a good thing that Mother's Day is around to remind us to celebrate an important woman in our lives. Quite simply, none of us would be here without our mums!