The time on the ground is............

Having just got back from a great weekend in Germany a thought come to my mind on the way there. As we were coming into land, the pilot uttered this immortal phrase " the time on the ground in Stuttgart is" It got me thinking was the time in the air over the airport different than that on the ground, did we go through some strange time portal when we stepped onto the tarmac?.
Time is important to us, we are governed by it for large chunks of our lives, when we work, go to bed, get up, meetings, whats on the tv, opening hours etc etc. Time governs our lives, we can't live without it and most of us never have enough of it. Do we really have a lack of time or is it bad management of our time, which leads to problems.

The other day i was talking to a friend of mine who is a good and honourable Christian, we got onto the subject of the Bible, church and God. He had not been to church for about 4 weeks, and had not read his bible in about 3 months, prayed or done any of (as he put it) the usual God stuff he would do.
As we chatted and played catch up, i said to him lets just pray before we part ways, so in the cafe we did just that we prayed, we spoke to our God and communed with him as we communed with each other. My friend asked how he was going to get back into reading his Bible again and doing "his God stuff" It came down to his priorities, that which is important and that which we make important. We loaded a bible app onto his phone, so that when he is commuting to work in the morning he can read or listen to the Bible, Since then he has got back to going to Church regularly, and has made in roads into managing his time better. It's something we all need to do, many of us spend hours a day on the inter web (and yes i see the irony in a web based blog) debating and thinking we are doing good, when actually it's a lot of bluster in a fair few cases, and people thinking of their own self importance. We spend hours discussing how things will change, how they should change, and actually do very little about implementing the change. Sometimes the best times we have are when we are run ragged, other times it's when we are still and just chilling with our friends or with God. But time is always a factor, we need to wake up and see that, time is always going to be, even after we have popped our clogs and moved onward. What happens NOW is important, you will never get back the time spent reading this blog, i will not get back the time i spent writing it. Time is important, it's up to us how we use use it, its up to us to prioritise how we use it. We can choose to prioritise for good or for bad, for benefit or for hurt. But in all of this we have to give God the time he truly deserves, and for some of us that will take up something more important than our time, it will take up our decisions on where God truly fits in to our lives. A few years ago a friend told me a great cliche, and like a lot of cliches it's got an element of truth to it. He said" Jesus is Lord of all or not Lord at all" We need to decide, who governs our time, is it God, or Eastenders? i'm not advocating becoming hermits, i'm not advocating throwing tv's from windows, unless you are a rock n roll star that is. What i'm driving at is a better use of our greatest resource, for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Forgiveness is not unconditional.

Thoughts often run through my head at a rate of speed, that i cannot keep up with them, now is no different. I'm a few weeks away from getting married, and there is a lot of stuff to do, mostly niggly little things. But in the last few weeks i have been looking at whether forgiveness is unconditional, whether it requires something from us, or whether it is just thrown around like a cheap coat. The Bible does not teach that forgiveness is unconditional, it requires something from us. Many times Jesus said " go and sin no more", the requirement of that is the sinning no more part. It sets a boundary up that we have to do something. Many people get confused with this because i believe Gods love is unconditional according to Romans 5 v 8, and a vast wealth  of other verses in the good book.  Forgiveness and love are not the same thing, They are different and as much as they can be entwined they do have different ideas behind them.

David and Bathsheba is a great case in point, God forgave David for his killing of Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba. But the up shot was that the people he led would know of Davids indiscretion, it was not a get out of jail free card, and was never intended to be one. Many years ago a good friend of mine let me down majorly, i was devastated but told him i was going to forgive what he did and that i bore him no malice, but i no longer wanted to see him on a regular basis. The hurt he caused me was very deep, but over the years i have moved on and lived my life. The point is sometimes Christian believe that f we forgive we have to roll over and get trampled on again and again, this is not the case.

Forgiveness has conditions God calls us to turn from our wayward lives. Make Jesus Lord of our lives and walk the narrow path. Forgiveness takes a lot of work, especially for us as we hold onto things for dear life, especially if we have been wronged. It tends to be the hurt we hold onto not the good. There are things we have to do, we have to forgive, we have to accept forgiveness and we have to turn away, from those things that drag us down into sin and stupidity. Forgiveness helps us move forward, helps us grow. We put it into action and let it flow from us. But it's not unconditional, Gods love is unconditional, but forgiveness is not.

The day we stop telling people there is a cost to following Christ, the day we make the Gopsel so watered down it's no better than dirty dish water, is the day we pack up shop, close the doors of our churches and let the people do what they want. There is no problem with calling sin what it is sin. Jesus did it, we can do it. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing, lets not degrade it by making it appear to the masses that we can just carry on as we were, with no remit to change our ways.

An Evangelical Evangelist who would of thunk it?

In certain quarters of the church the word Evangelical is seen as a slur, and the job of an Evangelist is not important or gets (in the words of Stephen Fry in Blackadder) poo pooed. Due to the world we live in, Evangelism and Evangelists are seen as dirty, corrupt, people. People who prey on the weak and vunerable to get a buck here or there. They are seedy nasty people, long on rhetoric short on Love. In the last few weeks i have watched with interest as Billy Graham has been pilloried, that mission is good as long as we do not call people to account for sins, and that the mission we are on is actually more about social care than spiritual care. Now i am not advocating not being concerned for our neighbours, those in society who are weak, vunerable or less fortunate than myself. But when Christians start to make statements about "wether God is real, Jesus was a myth" we have problems. Our first duty as Christians is to LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING WE ARE. Our second remit and the command that Jesus left us "is to make disciples of all nations". Now to do this we have no option but to use what the Bible tells us, and our history as church. We cannot expect people to get saved by reading the Beano, the Bible contains our blueprint as Christians as to how we are to act towards God, and the world. If we deride the Bible we may as well use the koran, or like previously mentioned the Beano, it is Gods instruction to us. Many Christians over our history have used that book to great effect, yes at times it has been used badly, but in other times it has been used to bring life to the thirsty soul, life which starts here and gains eternity with God.

I'm proud to be an Evangelist and proud to be Evangelical with all of it's faults. I'm proud that many have gone before me to lay a path for people to walk down that brings life. We are not called to be popular to society, we are called to walk a narrow path, to follow the one who changed the world by his very sacrifice and resurrection from the bloody cross. we HAVE A DUTY TO SAY TO PEOPLE "GO AND SIN NO MORE" not because we are better, but because what we have in Jesus, is life giving, everlasting, totally awesome and is not about popularity, but about rescue. Maybe it's time to get in the life boats and start rescuing a lost and hurting world

Floating Morals or pick n mix niceness.

We all like to think we have a good moral compass, most of us harp on about it in some shape or form. We talk about equality, inclusiveness and all those nice things that make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. But when the rubber hits the road what are we really like? Personally i know if i could be imprisoned for my thoughts, i would be serving a mass of concurrent life sentences and not getting Married this october. Justification is something i use to deceive myself, that at times my thought process is just like Jesus, when in reality it owes more to Satan and hatred and evil. But i will justify it in some way to make myself feel better. Actions can be great for showing, but thoughts are a different matter. They are seldom verbalised and thankfully even less actioned, but there is a real problem when our action and spoken life do not match with our thought patterns. Is it right to pray for someone to die, but then pray for someones healing? Paul tells us in the Bible that the tongue is the hardest thing to control, and since the advent of the interweb, our keyboards need to be controlled. A double minded person is unstable in all their ways, we have to match our thoughts with our actions, no matter how hard it is at times we have to love our enemies, pray for them and bless them. It's a hard one because it's easy to pray blessing on a family member or friend, but a whole different ball game comes into being when we have to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. It maybe the neighbour from hell who winds us up, a boss who is a bully, anything can cause rage to fly within us. Just push the right buttons and let's watch them fly, 20,000 ft and counting.

Over the years i have changed with regards to anger and violence, heck even when i came back to church i was for a time involved in a regular punch up, but broken bones take longer to heal when you get older. As time has wore on i have mellowed, some may even say matured (but they are very few ). Personally i like to think as i have grown in my faith, something of the goodness of God has gotten hold of me and made me a better person, now i'm someone who hopefully thinks before getting to 20,000ft, not because i'm better than anyone else, but because something that is of God is alive in me and changing me bit by bit. Lets let go of the anger, let go of the stuff that stops us reflecting glory, and instead of kicking out against humanity, lets kick the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Black holes and Revelations

It's a song and also in scientific and spiritual terms a phenomenon. Muse are not one of my favourite bands, some good tunes but a lot of it goes over my head. But Black holes and revelations is a stonking track. But a black hole is known for not letting out light, because of it's structure and make up light cannot escape, it just can't the hole for a whole lot of scientific reasons will not let that happen. People i know are like that (and that includes myself) due to a lot of frustration in the last few months i was less than Christian the other day and apologise to those i upset, it was not the intent, but in hindsight it was obvious i was going to put someones nose way out of joint. Personally i let little light out that day, coupled with a prolonged spiritual attack, which manifested itself in the same way as per usual i was fried mentally and emotionally, but that is no excuse for becoming a black hole and not letting the light in me escape. I'm called to be a light bearer a beacon on a hill, i went through a temporary power cut and did not enjoy it in the slightest.

But the Revelation comes from the oddest of places, it's not always looked for but maybe it should be!. My revelation about what really matters came very early on Saturday morning about 2am. A friend of mine was in need of a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to and someone to try and help, that was me. It was a long night for both of us, but i'm more than happy to do it and help out when i can. It was while i was sat on her sofas at stupid o'clock that the revelation dawned on me, and this is it.

Many of us who are Christian or lay claim to the title are so often caught up in the trivial, the ego, the i want, me, me ,me of life that we fail to see the revelation, we fail to answer the call. The lost sheep was all important to God, the prodigal son, the woman caught in adultery. All of them had a story to tell as to how or why they got to that point. Our calling and duty is to be available to listen, to offer revelation, to make sure that just as Jesus took the time to stop and stoop down, slow down we do the same thing.

Our actions and words speak volumes to those inside the church, and probably more importantly those outside of the church. We can choose to be a black hole and not shed any light on the situations we find ourselves in. Or we offer up revelation to those who are hurting, lonely and lost. We offer the revelation of Jesus of a God who cares, of a God that despite what society screams is ready and able to offer comfort, solace and grace in all it's forms.

RIP METHODISM (the day Methodism died to me)

thelordofsarcasm@gmail.com it's unusual to start a blog with an email address. But when you switch off and get indignant, it's best you know where to send your moaning to, because i will not be entering into a public slanging match over this blog. It will probably cost me my place a s a local preacher, either by request or the fact at this point in time im a gnats testicle from chucking it in (and that is after sleeping on it for an evening, and praying about it for a large part of yesterday). I'm not going to name and shame people, thats not why this is being done. This is being written for a number of reasons and they are rambling so forgive me for that. Just do not expect me to apologise for what is said.

Yesterday on the UK Methodist facebook page a poster of David Cameron was posted with the word "Bastard" and "scum" in the titler aimed at Mr Cameron. The poster of it has tried to justify why it was done etc, and the usual suspects on all sides have waded in with "pearls of wisdom". The fact is that wether we like it or not David Cameron is a human being and should be respected as such. More importantly we are taught within the pages of the Bible to pray for those who lead us, not just if we like them but to pray for them, heck we are even taught to pray for our enemies, so there is no excuse for the poster being put up on a forum that claims to represent Methodism in the UK.

But here is where my gripe really starts and if i get a little annoyed angry or passionate deal with it.

For the last 6 months i have been working very slowly with a guy who wanted to accept Jesus as his saviour ( i know some of you don't like the terms i will use but, deal with it) he was on the verge of making that leap of faith into the arms of God, until yesterday that is. He was a man of violence, a fighter, a nasty bit of work. He scares me and i class him as a friend, we have spent many days and hours discussing why he should follow Jesus, foolishly i said methodism works it gets a balance and enables growth. Yesterday thanks to a dumb post being put on the UK Methodist FB page, he has now decided we are no different than the world, we are no different than fundamentalist right wing nutjobs in the USA and worse still that if that is what church is about he want nothing to do with the structure or the God of the Christians. Needless to say i'm heartbroken about this, i could not careless about him being a Methodist or not, but getting saved and right with God is paramount, this is very likjley not going to happen in this case now.

Yesterday for me methodism reached the gutter, nastiness, hate filled words filled the page. People were ungracious to each other and in all honesty despicable towards each other. A group of people who claim to accept Christ should actually claim Christ and not pay lip service to him or the cause.

The usual suspects will rationalise it in their minds, they will make excuses about it, some will not give a stuff about what was said or how it has affected my friend or me. The usual pat answers will be trotted out "We are a broad church" etc etc etc, yes thats true, but broad church or not the attitude of Christ should shine through in all we do. We are told we die to ourselves and live for Christ and in Christ, we put on the mind of Christ, the attitude of Christ.

This will probably cost me my Local preacher status like i have already said, not because they want rid of me but because i am seriously thinking of chucking it all in, and i'm sorry to say that may also include Methodism. I'm not looking for a perfect community. But i'm looking for people with integrity, those people that when a forum is public, when it can be viewed by anybody. Will take a step back look at it without ego or malice and not post stupid things that pull people down, or turn people away from Christ.

If you think this is tough in speech, you should be glad i have slept on it. It will possibly fall on deaf ears, and people will go on their merry way. If you want to really moan My chair of district is the brilliant Pete Pillinger give him a bell. My minister is the equally brilliant Mark Gilborson do likewise if you feel the need to do so.

Finally i'm not a member of the UK Methodist group, but for those reading this who are could you share it on that page. People need to know their actions and words have an effect wether it's positive or negative.

Andy Richardson 15 August 2012.

Cyclists

Now it's a fact i spend most of my time on 2 wheels, the exhilaration and acceleration is incredibly life giving, and gets my blood pumping. Today i found out another friend had an accident on his motorcycle, a few bruises and broken bones, but he is still alive. So now i'm going to go on a rant about and against people who ride pushbikes with no regard for the rules of the road. If you abide by them this is not aimed at you in anyway, but i have to get this off my chest.

Push bike riders, you DO NOT own the road. you DO NOT pay tax for use of the road, you DO NOT invariably have insurance and finally WHEN THERE IS A CYCLE PATH TO USE, USE IT, my tax dollar has helped pay for it to be built. But the thing that really grinds my gears about push bike riders is when they come to a set of traffic lights, and decide that the highway code does not apply to them. They either jump onto the path and possibly hit a pedestrian, or worse still they keep edging out expecting the traffic coming towards them to stop and give way. Today while on my ride home from my mothers, 5 cyclists (assuming they were on the tour de France) blocked the road entirely, on a bend which was blind. Fortunately i was only bimbling along at 30 mph so i had time to rectify my line in the road and avoid them.

So whats the answer i have a few ideas. ALL cyclist should have a form of insurance in case of accidents. All cyclists should pay something towards use of the road (especially if a perfectly suitable) cycle path is available. If a cyclist is seen not obeying the highway code (jumping lights) at junctions and breaking the rules that car drivers and motorcyclists have to abide by or be fined. Then the cyclist gets fined. If the cyclist gets knocked off his bike by me in a car or on my bike, 9 times out of 10 i will be blamed for it. So cyclists start to use the roads properly, use the highway code and stick to it, all of our lives will be better for it