Part-Time Work

Some folks have asked what I have been getting up to recently! The answer is I've been doing some part-time work for a new Perthshire based company - doing a little research, writing, and starting to do some publicity work for them too. A local inventor designed the SmartTRASHER - a domestic waste compactor and separator, the size of a dishwasher but capable of storing a weeks recycling for the average family.

By making recycling easier, and bringing it within the required standards of the modern stylish kitchen, the SmartTRASHER promises to make a significant contribution to meeting local authorities Zero-waste targets. Recycling centres, have also been enthusiastic about the potential of this technology because not only does it compact waste on site (this can result in more efficient use of waste lorries), but unlike standard compaction units, it does not crush mixed waste together - which increases the costs, lowers the efficiency and reduces the effectiveness of recycling centres. Initial reviews have suggested that delivering significant benefits for the home and the recycling industry mean that the device will make a valuable contribution. In areas where local councils are contemplating separate roadside collections for all types of recyleable waste - and each home will need multiple bins; some form of domestic waste management system will be not just desirable but essential.

The product itself has been designed locally, built and tested in Edinburgh and the first one has been driven down to London ready for a product launch next week at Grand Designs Live at the Excel.

A simple demo of what the SmartTRASHER does, is now online at http://smarttrasher.com, and news of developments will soon be appearing on other places on the web too. I'm only working part-time on this, because I'm juggling lots of commitments with the family, and church, and need to be flexible around them. I'm doing three-months initially and then we'll see where things go after that. Happily, I'm able to work flexibly from home too which means that if the kids were sent home from school ill (or the teachers do actually strike!) I will at least be in the place for them. It's early days with this - it'll be interesting to help launch it and see where it leads, how successful it is and what contribution to it I could make.

Smart Trasher


Create Your Badge

Book Notes: Captured by a Better Vision: Living Porn Free by Tim Chester

Why every Christian man should read this book.

Surveys of Christians and pornography all come to the same conclusion - about a third of people surveyed are addicts or regular accessers of porn. Amongst younger people the figures are even higher, for men higher than for women, and for those in church leadership no different than amongst congregations. That means that you have almost certainly either seen porn, currently use it - or will be exposed to it in the near future. Furthermore you probably won't even have to go looking for it - some unscrupulous spammer might just send it you anyway. Pornography has saturated our culture in the last generation, the shame of asking for 'top-shelf' publications has been replaced with what one Psychologist called the three 'A's: Anonymity, Affordability & Accessibility.

Tim Chester's book is good news for anyone who needs to be freed from the addictive grip of pornography. Likewise it is good news for anyone not addicted to it - but who knows that they need to have all their appetites tamed, so that when the inevitable temptation comes, they are in a position to defend their integrity, and make the active choice to honour God, not indulge their lusts.

Part One investigates the effects of porn, physically, psychologically, in family relationships and marriage, as well as exposing some of the abuse and misery that goes on behind the scenes in the porn industry - to which consumers contribute. Dryly, Chester notes that given the high percentage of Christians who use porn, and the high percentage of them who back the "Stop the Traffik" campaign against people-trafficking; some of the same people are both opposing and funding the same nefarious trade. Going beyond what might be strictly considered to be porn today (but might have been so classified in previous generations) he also speaks about the devastating effect on the young of the bombardment of over-sexualised imagery in everyday life. Chester's "12 Reasons to avoid porn" is a sad, but important chapter. It concludes with this paragraph:

So far - much of what is written there could form the basis of any standard self-help book. This book however goes way-beyond that, and seeks rather to develop a Christian response to porn; specifically pointing out the ways that the gospel both makes porn abhorrent - and motivates and empowers the believer to part with it. Chester outlines the way in which use of porn is in theological terms both idolatrous and unbelieving. He writes from a position of human responsibility for our actions - hence he mocks any excuse that tries to blame a lower-libido'd spouse, or any claim that it is outwith the user's control, or any pretence that 'my willy made me do it'! If learning to despise the porn itself, (rather than just the shame associated with it) is a starting point - taking responsibility is a next step.

The book then very persuasively demonstrates that the deep-seated spiritual and psychological needs which are the drivers which attract people to porn - are actually needs which are met by God when we walk with Him. As such, anything which stands in God's place is an idol - to be rejected. However, porn can only disappoint, as it offers the user a twisted form of self-worship, but has been proven again and again to actually deliver self-loathing. The grace of God is then massively significant, because it is in responding to the gospel of Christ that any sinner (that's all of us in one way or another) can know the forgiveness, cleansing, healing and empowering presence of God - and most significantly His love and approval. The good news is that we can feast on Him - which makes sin redundant.

Only after laying down such important spiritual principles does Chester go on to explore the practicalities of computer Internet filters, accountability structures and the like. These, have their place in allowing the determined person, motivated by the gospel, to 'crucify the flesh' and turn good intentions into practical purity. He also explores something of the Biblical concept of positive sexuality, as in the Song of Songs. The beauty, power, gentleness, mutuality, poetry and delight of sex depicted here is a view of sex that many porn users have had robbed from them by the exploitation, selfishness or violence of pornography. In so doing, he makes a useful contribution to the promotion of a Christian view of marriage, and also strikes a blow against the all-pervasive sexual objectification of women, in our society. This book teaches men who have been reared on a diet of advertising which uses the female form as a marketing tool - to instead honour women as God intends.

Sometimes the more important something is - the more power it has both for good and for harm. The power of sexual attraction is just such a powerful force - yet each of us has the responsibility to use this power positively in service to God. "Captured by a Better Vision" I think is an ideal place to begin to explore what for Christian men this means in today's world, whether you have had dealings with porn or not. As I stated earlier on, the statistics are bewildering. It means that there it is almost certain that that there are some readers of this blog who are under the power of this sin - who need to come into the freedom that Christ both offers and demands. The rest of you will face temptation of this nature very soon, and need to be prepared for that.

Now, going into your local Christian bookshop and saying to the old-dear behind the counter, "Excuse me, do you have Tim Chester's book about Pornography?" will elicit the most strange looks and awkward exchange (she fumbles with the till and receipts, trying to avoid eye-contact, while trying not to make it too obvious that none is being made!). So I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to have such an encounter, but Christian men - you should read this book. You can get it online, here, here or here.

Book Notes: "Raised with Christ" by Adrian Warnock

Adrian Warnock is best known as the writer of the outspoken blog, adrianwarnock.com, which at one time had a very lively comments section, is very widely read, and has been credited with bringing many of the voices of the so-called 'young, restless and reformed' movement to a UK readership, and blending it with the 'charismatic' practices of his New Frontiers churchmanship.

In this his first book Warnock seeks to rivet the readers attention on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ and his death has been the traditional emphasis of the western church, both in positive remembrance, and over the last few years, deeply-felt theological wrangles over its meaning to which Warnock has been no stranger. In this book though he seeks to move our attention onto the positive Christian declaration that Christ who died, rose again and now reigns. He demonstrates that while the resurrection was absolutely central to the life, witness and proclamation of the first Christians - it is often merely assumed by today's church. The central prominence of this theme in the New Testament is simply not reflected in contemporary preaching, praying, publishing, faith, hope or Christian practice! He has a good point and he makes it well.

Secondly, and drawing on the work of scholars like N.T. Wright, he coherently marshals some of the apologetic arguments that insist that it is historically sound to argue for the historicity of the resurrection - and that this was not in the form of an apparition, but of genuine bodily resurrection. This again is pretty well put together, defining the heart of Christian belief, and the reasons for holding it - with clarity and without unnecessary theological terminology.

Thirdly Warnock looks at the bigger picture of the biblical view of post-mortem resurrection, how the doctrine emerged during the Old Testament period, and existed at the time of Christ - where the matter was much disputed between Pharisees and Saducees. This section was less strong, in being a little selective in the texts covered, presenting the Old Testament in more systematic terms than it is written.

Warnock's fourth emphasis though is probably the most helpful part of the book -in that he shows that the resurrection of Christ is part of the gospel, often left unproclaimed - even in presentation in visitor-services and the like, aimed at explaining the core of the faith to interested people. The NT, Warnock points out says that "Christ was raised for our justification". Quoting Calvin who said, "For how could he by dying have freed us from death, if he had yielded to its power?" Warnock points out that without the life-giving power of the risen Christ, his death alone could have made us 'forgiven corpses'! Extending his theme, he develops the view that Christian conversion is a personal resurrection, which comes from being united with Christ and participating in his resurrection. These two chapters are worth the price of the book alone and will repay careful reading.

The final two sections deal with (i) the Christian life and (ii) the return of Christ. The Christian life section, in which matters such as sanctification, bible-study, prayer and revival are dissected was the weakest in the book however. This was not because of any great errors that are contained within them - more simply that Warnock seems at times to address these subjects without tying them adequately to his main resurrection theme. Ironically he seems occasionally in this section to somewhat merely assume the resurrection! While each of his topics is opened up with his customary clarity and accuracy, without clearly anchoring them in his resurrection theme, they appear to be a list of personal spiritual priorities rather than the inescapable and inevitable implications of the resurrection. Developing Lloyd-Jones' pneumatology might be a very worthwhile thing to do - but might be better done in a book on the work of the Spirit, or a commentary on Ephesians. The opposite of this weakness is the method employed by NT Wright whose "Surprised by Hope" seeks to tie the emphases of the Christian life very specifically to his understanding of Christ's resurrection, especially its physicality.

Finally Warnock ends on a high note. Expounding the last New Testament saying of the risen Christ he looks at the Great Commission and the church's mission to tell the whole world about him. Then he looks at the great hope of Christian salvation which is not a disembodied spirit-only (float about on a cloud!) but of complete personal and physical resurrection like Christ's. Finally he concludes with a brief chapter on the future hope of the resurrection of the whole cosmos, the judgement of God, and the renewal of all things.

This year "Raised with Christ" was my Easter reading - and its a thought-provoking and stimulating read which has had a significant effect in re-balancing my understanding of the gospel towards the New Testament pattern. His understanding of the gospel in the light of the death and resurrection of Christ is great. The book is written in deceptively simple language, grappling as it is with some very serious things. A British author consistently using American spellings does grate after a while, but I tried not to let this annoy me too much! In this review I have noted that the book is not of uniform quality throughout, some chapters sparkling - while material selection in other parts seemed a little arbitrary - and I do think that some of the high-profile rave reviews over-state their case somewhat. Nevertheless this has been a really useful Easter read, and at raisedwithchrist.net, there is the promise of study-materials to follow which might make it a basis for a small-group Bible-study next year.

Tag-a-long Fun

I didn't think we'd manage a 'family bike ride' this year! While the boys are safely up on two wheels and can manage ten miles or so of peddling without (too much) complaining, our four year old daughter is far from being able to manage that. For her - a half an hour toddle around the local park with stabilisers intact is as much as she could manage by herself. This of course frustrated the boys no end - being held back by their "silly, little" sister (sic). Some neighbours recommended the tag-a-long to us - which they use to overcome a similar scenario in their household. It clamps simply and easily onto the back of the parents' bike via a quick-release bolt - onto a bracket which remains permanently on the seat-post.

In theory the 4-year-old on the back has a set of pedals with which to contribute to the effort required in dragging all the extra weight up hills and into wind! In practice her effort was intermittent (expressed charitably!) and on our return she is the only one who doesn't look slightly weary!

In Perth we are fortunate to be situated right on one of SUSTRANS national cycle routes which enables us to get right through the town, along by the river and into some lovely countryside. Today we cycled along the banks of the Tay, through the North Inch, round the back of Muirton and up to the confluence of the Almond and Tay rivers. Here the cycle-path follows the delightful path of the Almond out of the town and along to the village of Almondbank. A small hill separates this village from Pitcairngreen, a pleasant place to stop for a drink, some crisps and ice-cream in the afternoon sun before turning to cycle home by the same route.

Film Notes: The Hurt Locker

When "Saving Private Ryan" was released it was heralded as a breakthrough in the treatment of war in movies. It's opening sequence was terrifying, gripping, distressing and (apparently) unnervingly realistic in its depictions not just of the wounds of war, but also of the confusion of battle.

'Hurt Locker' tells the story of three soldiers in a bomb disposal team in occupied Baghdad after the end of formal hostilities, in the centre of the insurgency. In constant danger from bombs, snipers, suicide attacks, far from home and in great heat - the three main characters seek to survive. Sgt William James (Jeremy Renner), the main bomb disposal expert is accompanied throughout by two specialists, Sgt JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Sgt Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) whose job is to keep him safe as he disarms devices. Much of the plot concerns James' maverick and dangerous approach to the task, bravery to the point of foolishness, unquestioned skill and lack of judgement.

The Hurt Locker is a very different film from 'Ryan' - yet has been lauded in similar terms, as achieving a new depth in Hollywood's treatment of armed conflict. This film is well worthy of its Oscar's for direction, editing, sound, script, and so forth - part of its power is that there are no lousy errors in these departments to distract, but the whole presentation unrelentingly seizes the imagination for the entire 126 minutes. But it is not in these things that the contrast to Ryan is most apparent, neither is it in the fact that Ryan takes place in the middle of an enormous set-piece battle; whereas Hurt Locker exists within the excruciating tension of hostile occupation and guerrilla warfare.

The key difference rather, is in fact that all the characters in 'Ryan' sanely long for home, and dream of returning to their girl back home in Pennsylvania, Alabama, or Tennessee. In a sinister, and disturbing development in this film it becomes apparent that Sgt. James, isn't merely naively gung-ho, but is deeply committed to, and indeed addicted to, the pursuit of war. If 'Ryan' is chilling in its treatment of the threat from without, the horror of war and the losses sustained; The Hurt Locker is chilling in its dealing with the threat from within - that the very act of war might actually intoxicate the human soul, and so overwhelm a personality that nothing else provides it adequate meaning - especially not the comforts of civilian domesticity.

If this is a serious message which writer Mark Boal wanted to relay (basing his writing on his time spent as a reporter 'embedded' amongst US troops in the Iraq war), then Kathryn Bigelow's film delivers it with a mighty punch. The film is a (15) certificate, reflecting some strong language and distressing scenes, which no doubt were part of the real experience that Boal wished to capture. Utterly compelling.

At Montrose

While Endlessly Restless had visited Peterhead and was posting delightful postcard pictures of colourful fishing boats (on a sunny day with a decent camera), we were walking along the coast at Montrose. Here in dull light and a through a dodgy camera we saw a different aspect of Scotland's surviving maritime industry.

While Peterhead's traditional fishing boats ooze charm, and invoke all kinds of nostalgia, Montrose's heavy industrial traffic was all about brute strength, oil and heavy seas.

The narrow shipping lane that connects the open water to the natural harbour, is itself the gateway to the Montrose basin. Here a powerful tug, called the Netherland Tide, negotiates the channel after a brief meeting with the harbour pilot who sailed out to meet it a mile or so off-shore. The kids were fascinated with this - and tried (and failed) to race the ship from the lighthouse back to the harbour, while hailstones pelted them! The point of the day had been that they had asked to sample genuine Arbroath Smokies (I wonder if they have been told about them at school?), and so we went initially to Arbroath harbour where the genuine articles can be as much smelled as tasted! Our next planned stop at Lunan Bay was interrupted by rain - but they seemed delighted with these unexpected views of ships instead.

My camera takes nice pictures in good light but, as soon as perfect sunshine disappears is only capable of annoyingly grainy shots. An upgrade required, one day!

Travelling Home

The end of a great holiday in N.Ireland

Last Glimpse

The final slither of the sun, dips below distant Donegal - and is gone.

Carrick-a-Rede

Ireland's northern coast is a wild and spectacular collision of land and sea, where bands of harder rock still stick defiant arms out into the water while softer parts have been carved into graceful coves and beaches. This is not a tranquil meeting of earth and water in salt marshes and reed beds, but rather a brutal, and often stunningly beautiful front in a timeless war of attrition.

The surrounding seas may sometimes be hostile, but they have been fruitful and plentiful - supplying countless generations of Ulster folk with a livelihood and food-source. The difficulty in this environment was landing the catch - a seemingly impossible task, given the tangles of shattered and splintered rock descending near-vertical slopes to the waves beneath. Many years ago ingenious fishermen devised a system in which a winch could be placed on a low-cliff above a more peaceful reach, the fish being hoisted up onto a small island promontory. That island though was separated from the mainland by a precipitous gorge, which they spanned with a rope bridge.

The old rope-bridge was apparently a spindly, dangerous affair. My in-laws recall going across it when it was quite slack, dipping deeply in the middle, and having very little rope-work on its sides to prevent a small slip resulting in a dramatic demise. Now in the care of the National Trust, and with the bridge renewed, it makes a great day out.

It's still a big enough drop to cause a sharp intake of breath if you allow yourself a brief look down!

Spiderman

Norris - aka Spiderman, assaults a blade of rock at Portstewart, N. Ireland.

Memory Lane, Articlave

Mrs H. & I took a few minutes (without children in tow!) to visit this place last week. It's the premises of First Dunboe Presbyterian Church, in Articlave, Northern Ireland. For my wife initially (and subsequently for me) this is a place loaded with memories and significance.

When I visit my hometown after a long absence, the experience can be quite overwhelming, as even walking down the road can trigger a stream of long-buried memories to bombard the mind. I am sure that the intensity of that mental assault is probably far stronger for the returning absentee, than for those who have remained close to home their whole lives who become accustomed to the markers of the past inhabiting their present.

For my wife, this was the place she was brought as a child, for us both this was the place we got married in 1996, making it inextricably part of my history too. In the graveyard around the building, we traced several generations of her family, names we had heard at funerals, stretching back across the tiers of the family tree, spellings sometimes changing en route. The graveyard is also full of memorials to dozens of people that my wife has known over the years - the reminder of whom was powerful and affecting. So too, were the names of people written there who we have both known, both of family and friends; those who died young and those who lived long.

Portstewart Sunset

Marooned?

I have various friends marooned in cities and airports, in various places around Europe. We spent seven hours stuck at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in November after our flight had been cancelled, which was bad enough. Some of my friends have been in such places now for days on end - while volcanic ash still billows out of Iceland, and gently settles over Northern Europe.

The picture is of the inside of one of Paris CDGs elegant terminal buildings - a quick snap taken on my phone.

To Rathlin Island 4

To Rathlin Island 3

To Rathlin Island 2

To Rathlin Island 1

Giant's Causeway 6

Giant's Causeway 5

Giant's Causeway 4

Giant's Causeway 3

Giant's Causeway 2

Giant's Causeway 1

Benone

Benone beach looking towards Magilligan.

Falls of Clyde Montage

At New Lanark

After a day sitting in our rain-lashed house yesterday, Boris, Norris, Doris & I took advantage of a decent day's weather to visit New Lanark today. The New Lanark Mill village is a place I have read about and which I have heard mentioned in many history, sociology, economics and politics classes over the years. I hadn't realised that it is now one of only five designated 'World Heritage Sites' in Scotland. Although not established initially by him, New Lanark will always be linked with the name Robert Owen, who bought out his partners in order to model the village as a new socialist Utopia (well, one in which child labour, over-crowding, long working hours, and having to listen to long speeches by Robert Owen, was the norm). Having said that, in comparison with the standard working and living conditions in the cities springing up at the time, like nearby Glasgow, or even Dundee - New Lanark was indeed utopian.

The exhibition itself is pretty well done, with the buildings well preserved, some good exhibits, interesting information panels and an expensively made ride through the mills history told through the eyes of a ghost of a girl who lived in the village in its heyday and who still hangs about to inform visitors. There's plenty of good hands-on history here to engage the children, from discussions of social conditions, to the demise of British manufacturing to the beginnings of socialism to the working of waterwheels.

At the end of it all there is also the fabulous walk alongside the River Clyde, as its waters froth and boil through the gorge and over the much-photographed Falls of Clyde.

What time is it Eccles?

2mins 23 seconds of NT Wright on the Resurrection!

Marriage Course Reflections

With a sense of, "we've made it..." we completed another marriage course in Perth last night. It's the first course we have hosted using the updated marriage course materials - which underwent a complete re-vamp last year. The basic format has remained the same, the seven sessions remain as on the original course (foundations. communication, conflict resolution, forgiveness, wider family, good sex, and love in action). Again as on the original course, the DVD, presented by Nicky and Sila Lee, has got several places on each evening, which contain pauses for couples to talk privately using the questions in their manuals.

As on the original course, it is very, very practically orientated, and (quite deliberately I think) wears the research behind it very lightly. What I mean is that while the Lees' have obviously read widely on subjects like social change, and the nature of contemporary marriage - they don't weigh their presentation down with endless footnotes (many more of which are cited on their leaders training days). Likewise, theologically the Christian and biblical assumptions which inform the course are not in-yer-face; it's certainly not a Bible-study course, by any means - and the talks are not a series of bible-quotations; neither is it suitable only for Christians. Nevertheless, the manual accompanying the talks reveals a lot about the biblical inspiration for the subjects covered, such as 'the power of forgiveness'.

The biggest change in the course (apart from the dropping of almost certainly fictitious but very funny Mr Gorsky story!) is that the presentation has been made a lot slicker than on the first edition. Not only does the dialogue rotate much more frequently between the two presenters, but they also cut a lot more often to filmed clips of couples interviewed about the evening's topic. The down side of this is that the more magazine format is so busy that the main points might not stand out so clearly, because it is all so engaging! The plus side is that the whole thing is of a good contemporary standard of production and presentation. From the perspective of hosts running it, we found that the timetable of the new material was much more demanding than on the original course. As there are more breaks for discussion and therefore shorter talks - the 'window of opportunity' for nipping to the kitchen to prepare teas, coffees and deserts to serve at the evenings 3o-minute 'long exercise', was on some occasions just too too tight to meet (and on the night our kettle packed up - totally impossible!). This is especially the case when on a full course we use the kitchen for a couples' discussions - so its completely shut except when we come back together to watch a DVD segment.

Mrs H. and I had hoped to do the course again ourselves this time, so refresh our marriage and to really get to grips with the new materials. I think on the nights we were just too occupied with the challenge of running the course to really be able to do so properly - and despite some great discussions in the breaks from the DVD we didn't manage to compete all the homework. So - we're planning to do some reviewing over the next few weeks.

Next Thursday I will enjoy the day more - and the evening less! I will enjoy the day more, as I won't be cleaning, tidying, shopping peeling spuds, checking DVDs, chopping wood, lighting fires, or serially filling dishwashers! Instead I will be going out for lunch with my wife! I will enjoy the evening less though, because Marriage Course evenings are great fun - especially towards the end of a course when the guests have got to know each other bit, and the banter around the meal table is increasingly entertaining. There's always a buzz in the air on a Marriage Course night - and I'll miss all the people who've been here over the last seven weeks. Falling asleep on the sofa (!) maybe more relaxing, but it's hardly as rewarding. The next discussion well need to have, is if and when to advertise it and offer the course again.

The Unspeakable Privilege of Preaching

I am tired - really tired. My limbs ache, and my voice is shot to pieces, but yet I have a huge sense of gratitude and joy, because this is all due to preaching - that is to say Bible-teaching. Over the last week or so I have spoken more intensively than ever before (eight messages in eight days!), but it hasn't just been a challenge - it has been the most wonderful thing to have been able to do! Last night, as I drove back down the A9 after a trip to visit good friends in Fort William I was stirred in my spirit with a sense not just of gratitude to God for the opportunity to lead two services, preach twice and do a children's message - but also with a profound sense of the sheer privilege it is to stand in front of a congregation and open the Bible and to preach it.

That is not to say that all of these messages were any good! In fact they were a bit of a mixed bag - some went well, some not so well. What's more, it's really important that they didn't all go well - otherwise it would be all too easy to fall into the awful trap of egotism; after all - I have spent hours being listened to! What's more, when people appreciate what you have said they tell you; but when its not been so good they don't - and so how painfully easy it is to overestimate your own significance.

But yet - what a privilege it remains to have time to wrestle with a text, to pore over a commentary or two and gather a wealth of material until that wonderful moment when a coherent structure begins to emerge from all the notes. It remains an immense challenge to pray until able to please God, and not seek primarily to impress people - something I perhaps rarely achieve. What a deeply significant and wonderful thing it then is, when you can sense God moving as His word is delivered, when His strength comes and there is a sense of freedom in the delivery; when people say they have learned new truths from the word; or have been moved again by truths they have known for many years.

It's a really wonderful thing to be able to take part in! I just sometimes can't quite believe that God wants me to be involved!

A Harmony of the Events of Holy Week

If anyone is interested in reading through the events of Holy Week as they unfold in the four gospels, there are a few harmonies of the accounts online. This one is especially helpful I think, and you can click on the links to explore the texts too.

http://www.esvstudybible.org/sb/objects/chart-40-04.html

The Parable of the Two Angels

I was invited to a lunch for retired people yesterday at one of the churches in Perth. Little 'Doris' came with me, and behaved beautifully - although in typical fashion found the attention of people she didn't know too scary and hid behind her colouring book for most of the time! The highlight of the occasion though was a story that one of the older men told me after we had eaten - it was called The Parable of the Two Angels; it's simplicity contains a truth that is easier said than truly grasped.

One one occasion God saw that some work needed to be done on earth and decided to dispatch two angels to complete the tasks. Both angels He selected for the jobs were middle-ranking angels who had been close friends if not for ever, then at least since before the beginning. Both angels were thrilled to be given an assignment by God, packed for the trip and collected the envelopes containing their instructions. The first angel arrived on earth, and with a glad heart opened his envelope. He was surprised to discover that he was going to preach that day to two-thousand people, with remarkable results. He went and got on with the work - delighted to have a chance to serve. The second angel arrived on earth shortly after him, and with a glad heart opened the envelope containing his instructions. He was surprised to discover that he was to sweep the streets of the town and collect all the litter. He went and got on with the work - delighted to have a chance to serve. When the work was completed they met together and travelled back to heaven, eager to see God again. On the journey home, they talked about their day and what they had encountered. The second angel fought back slight feelings of disappointment that his friend had been entrusted with so much responsibility while his tasks had been somewhat mundane. The first angel fought back the feelings of smug superiority he sensed in himself as they spoke together. The greatest surprise of the day occurred however when they came before God to offer Him the worship of their completed service. "Well done, my good and faithful servants!" declared God to the old friends as they bowed before Him. And he handed them both an identical reward. The second angel looked stunned and was about to query why his friend hadn't received more than him, given the relative importance of the tasks they had performed - when he stopped himself, realising that there's never really an appropriate moment to query God's judgement. "I know what you are thinking" though said God, "why should I reward you both equally for what you consider to be unequal tasks? The fact is you both worked with equal love for me, in obedience to my will. I could have given either task to either of you and equipped you for it, but you both served me with equal love and faithfulness. The value of a work to be done, is not found in the applause it gains from people, but in the love it demonstrates for the one who instructed it."

The View from The Knock

An enjoyable day out today with friends from Tayside Christian Fellowship, including a trip to Crieff, a wander up The Knock, and ice creams at Crieff Hydro!

Sawing, splitting, stacking

Setting-Up

Looks like a "Marriage Course" night!

Winter Perth

Mortality and Microwaves

The photo is of our broken microwave oven waiting by the front door, ready to be taken to the dump to be unceremoniously er,... dumped. This is the only microwave we've ever owned, and was given to us as a wedding present almost fourteen years ago. I'm actually slightly shocked just writing that down, fourteen years!

That microwave worked faithfully in our first little flat in Dundee, heating our dodgy student-food in a tiny kitchen high above the Lochee Road. It survived the move to Perth to a run-down (but scandalously-cheap) flat owned by my wife's then employer. It came with us, when we upgraded to a two-bedroomed flat (same owner, same condition) after 'Boris' was born in 1999. It moved with us on again to the first little house we bought - and then with far too many children in tow, to the place we are now in. It has warmed hundreds of bottles of baby formula, heated a thousand plates before meals, grilled many a slice of cheese-on-toast, warmed the milk for countless cups of coffee - and generally been with us as long as we have been, 'us'. In fact, I would only be exaggerating slightly if I were to say that I can't imagine our kitchen without it - and had always unthinkingly sort of assumed that it would always be there.

If the strange passing of our microwave oven (with grill) is provoking a ludicrously sentimental response - the real reason behind it, actually lies in none of the above. The microwave that conked out this week was actually a wedding present from my late-grandparents. Much as the microwave has been a fixed and unchanging fixture in our kitchen, so my little Grandma had been a fixed and unchanging point of reference throughout the first three-and-a-half decades of my life. It's still odd not having a microwave - and I sometimes forget that its not there and go to use it. Absence is unusual, odd, peculiar, awkward and not right.

I had recently mused upon the irony that the Sharp "950W Microwave Oven and Quartz dual-Grill" they bought in 1996 lasted so much longer than they did. Yet, also thought how nice it was to still have a functioning reminder of them in daily use. The death of the oven was then an odd but nevertheless stark reminder of mortality; as not only have they gone, but the footprints they left in this world have already begun to be kicked over. A philosopher many thousands of years ago, known only to us as Quoheleth mourned that the final tragedy of death is that no-one remembers them.(1) Indeed, it won't be long until no-one here does: them or me, or us, or you.

In reality of course, two things temper my morbid mood as I take this redundant tool to its final resting place. The first is that it is only a part of the physical world that Jesus warned his followers, would always be subject to rot, rust, decay or theft.(2) The second (and more important) factor though is that, the people who I miss were not people who had dedicated their lives to the temporary, passing and material concerns of life; but were people with faith in Christ who had spent a lifetime accumulating treasure in heaven(3). A time will come when no-one living remembers my Grandparents - nor anything about their lives. Yet nothing, not one detail, escapes the infinite capacity of the mind of God (4). The assurance though is that they are not merely remembered by God distantly, but treasured by Him in His immediate presence. (5)

This is the crunch: things need to be replaced, but people need to be resurrected! Resurrection for us is possible because of the resurrection of Christ, his conquest of sin and death, and our reconciliation with God. What Christ achieved in the tomb on the first Easter Sunday, smashes through the categories of life and death, mortality and immortality; creating a doorway into everlasting communion with God; which we can enter by faith in him.

Memory and association can tie the most important things to the most mundane of objects.

1. Ecclesiastes 9:5

2. Matthew 6:19

3. Matthew 6:20

4. Luke 12:7

5. 1 Cor 13:12

The Marriage Preparation Course

Mrs H. & I really wish that we had done some form of 'Marriage Preparation' before we got hitched in 1996. In our case it wasn't so much that we were deluded love-birds who couldn't imagine ever needing to actually work on our relationship; nor was it the simple arrogance of youth which doesn't look to gain wisdom from those who have walked the road before. With us it was more to do with the fact that we came from different parts of the UK, were studying in Scotland, were getting married in Ireland, and she spent the summer running up to our marriage in a remote corner of Africa! As such we ended up being well-prepared for a wedding, but not so well prepared for marriage -this made the learning curve steeper and harder.

Interestingly the things we were least prepared for were the practicalities of sharing, space, time and well, everything really! We didn't disagree about the nature of marriage, the theology of marriage, the purpose or permanence of it; but the practical merging together of two different lives required some thought.

Happily, since we got married in 1996 a very practical Marriage Preparation Course, has been growing around the UK. Usually hosted by churches, but run in all manner of venues including registry offices; the Marriage Preparation Course helps couples to think and talk through the issues which affect most marriages as they develop over the years. I know some folks who have done it in London, and have said that it was really useful for them.

As it's now February - the 2010 summer marriage season will soon be upon us! If you are reading this and you are one of those thousands of engaged couples counting the days until your wedding, now is a good time to investigate the course. For more details about the Marriage Preparation Course click here, and to find out where the nearest course to you is, type your postcode into the box after clicking here.

A truly loathsome T-shirt: and I the proud owner!

Being married to a Dr. means that I am frequently subjected to that profession's notoriously dark biological sense of humour which inappropriately finds amusement in all things bodily. If the subject be digestive, reproductive, malodorous, embarrassing or just plain appalling - then so much the better.

A while ago I blogged about finding a copy of the delightful "Bristol Stool Form Scale" on the printer at home (click here to view this charming diagnostic aid). Imagine my joy and delight therefore when my wife appeared home tonight from a medical conference with a weird look on her face and the words, "I have a present for you" upon her lips...

What should come out of her bag, but a lovely T-shirt, with nothing less than the legendary Bristol Stool Form Scale itself printed across the back, and the name of a well-known laxative emblazoned on the front! Truly this is most loathsome T-shirt ever to have been printed.

I am, naturally proud to be the owner of such an ultimately lamentable garment, but am trying to imagine a context in which I might wear it. Once every couple of years I have a trip to the hospital to see the Consultant who is treating me for a mild bowel disorder. Next time I am at Perth Royal Infirmary I think that the T-shirt might well have to be worn. But when else? It's not really the sort of thing for trips to Tesco's - I got weird enough looks there last time I wore my "Interpretive Dance" T-shirt; what would happen with this one I can't begin to imagine.

But for those of you who missed it the first time, here's the infamous chart; coming soon to a T-shirt near you!

Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood both stars and directs Gran Torino, and in the process all but resurrects his long-gone Dirty Harry character - albeit in retirement and with a different name.

Warning - the following review contains several spoilers!

The story concerns newly widowed retiree Walt Kowalaski, a bitter, angry cynical racist Korean War veteran, who spends his days brooding with resentment against all the changes that modern life has brought to his neighbourhood. His own kids have long since joined the white-flight to the suburbs, their children appear to Walt to be vain and vacuous; while they have been replaced with immigrants from South-East Asia whose language, culture and customs irritate him. To add to his irritations he is pursued by an eager, naive young Catholic priest who had made a promise to his late wife to pastor him after her death. Worst of all though, the neighbourhood - once peaceful - is ruled by ruthless and violent gangs.

The main thrust of the movie concerns the way in which Kowalski ends up as a community hero for standing up to the gangs, often violently, as they try to recruit their kids to their ranks. In turn, Kowalski himself softens in his attitude to his Hmong neighbours as he gradually begins to see them as fellow victims of the forces of destruction in the neighbourhood. Such a story might seem quite naive, and the idea of a an inner-city collaboration between new immigrants and old racists against criminals somewhat far-fetched. This isn't the case however. I remember meeting an old civil rights campaigner in Philadelphia, who fought against racist city Mayor Frank Rizzo (initially elected by the white minorities to defend their interests against the Black communities). He told me how he subsequently joined Rizzo's campaign team for his re-election, because this potentially violent, right-wing Mayor with a thuggish reputation was the only one of the candidates who he thought would actually wage war on the drug-gangs who were by then a far greater threat to the communities of North Philadelphia than the city government! In Kowalski's turnaround - there is one pivotal scene, when he suddenly realises that he has 'more in common with these gooks than with [his] own family'.

The film, moves towards an inevitable show-down between Kowalski and the gangs, especially after the brutal rape of a his young next-door-neighbour, who has forged a bond with him as they have together resisted gang-power. The fact that he was unable to protect his young friend, pushes Kowalski towards a definitive final response - and we see him polishing his gun before going to confront them. The final scene though comes as a complete surprise. (spoiler warning!) unarmed, Kowalski allows himself to be gunned down in front of witnesses. As a result of his self sacrifice justice is achieved as the gang are imprisoned, and his friends are saved as the threat to the neighbourhood is removed. Kowalski's body absorbing bullet after bullet as he seems to soak up all the evil in a breathtaking act of self-sacrifice is loaded with strongly redemptive imagery - which Eastwood seems to re-enforce as the body is pictured lying with his arms outstretched in a cruciform shape!

The film has caused a lot of discussion, with both rave reviewers and detractors being very strong in their responses. It certainly has one or two flaws, but Eastwood himself, snarling and growling his way to the gritty conclusion is on top-form, and the much criticised story-premise, is, I think, with some precedents in recent American history. The film gains its 15 certificate because of the language and violence it contains, so its not for the easily offended and is a film for adults to consider. In its defence, the language is realistic for its context, (rather than just used for its shock value, as in say The Big Lebowski) and the violence while essential to the plot is not gratuitous or voyeuristic.

Films in this genre walk the curious line between social-commentary, serious issues and entertainment, and on the whole Gran Torino manages that very well. There are several funny moments, some brilliant dialogue, a couple of pieces of hilarious subtitling when Kowalski and the aged Hmong grandmother are insulting each other with no language in common. However this doesn't detract from the presentation of the sadness of the all too real problems of gang violence and abuse; nor from the dark, but inevitable progress of the film towards its climactic and stunning conclusion.

Playing Hard-Ball

After several seasons playing "Kwik Cricket" (the softball introductory form of the game), number one son (aka 'Boris') yesterday graduated to playing hardball, at the club's first winter nets. He was naturally a little nervous before going as he's watched the older lads playing such 'proper cricket' across the ground many times. I've seen him watching some pretty quick bowlers getting the lethal leather to climb alarmingly from just short of a length - whizz past batsmen's noses and thud into the nets, with a mixture of admiration and apprehension.

He started off with a bit of bowling, which was great because this is probably his strength. He's bowled at me several times with a hard ball, so the only novel bit was bowling to other lads. Last time he bowled at me he caused a tasty bruise on my shin too. Spotting the ball drifting onto leg stump, I tried to effortlessly flick him through mid-wicket with all the elegance of David Gower - but ended up hopping about clutching my shin with all the panache of Barry Chuckle. I had to admit that he was at least a yard quicker than I'd anticipated; but noticed that he was more interested in whether the ball would have gone on to strike leg-stump, than about whether his poor father would ever walk again. In the nets last night, he got his line right pretty quickly, getting in a good groove in and around off-stump during the time I was there. The adjustment for him was with length - a move up the age-group means a longer wicket, and although not at a full 22-yards yet, he did take a few balls to find a reasonable length.

I wasn't there when he was batting - but the coaches seemed to be happy enough, saying that he was developing a sound defensive technique, which is the essential foundation on which to build an armoury of more attacking shots. The big change here is with equipment. Kwik Cricketers play dressed in shorts and T-shirts, whereas hard-ball cricketers go out to bat these days dressed like medieval knights in armour. I'm old enough to remember a handful of test cricketers who didn't use batting helmets, but now even kids routinely hide under their plastic lid. This might seem a little over the top to some - but it's probably a good thing. If the bounce was very low in the indoor net last night and the helmet superfluous, a time will come when they will face some aspiring Michael Holding and being used to wearing the helmet when the time comes will be an advantage. Viv Richards, famously never used one - claiming that "if you need one, you shouldn't be out there". In retirement however he admitted that this was all bluster and that the real reason was that having learnt to bat without one, he was never comfortable with it on.

The step-up to 'real cricket' was a challenge, but Boris absolutely relished it. It's "SO" much better than kwik cricket, he says!

All Around the World

I was pointed to this on YouTube today. Sad, poignant, moving - and worth sharing.

Lent

Us sola scriptura types have traditionally not placed a great deal of emphasis on the church calendar. In debates now long forgotten by everyone else, the disciplines of Lent such as fasting were thought to have the stench of self-righteousness and works-justification about them; while the church calendar hinted at tilting us towards the authority of tradition and so away from the Bible. All of these were no doubt real and present dangers in 1530...

In 2010, I am not convinced that we need to be so reactive, but can pro-actively use ancient church traditions for our good! Endlessly Restless, in his blog has suggested a helpful and positive way to use the Lent period running up to Easter. His emphasis there is not on giving something up for its own sake, but on adopting a good habit instead. He's invited us to join him in a 47-day reading through John's gospel, stopping to pray and reflect during the day. To see the reading plan and the suggestions he makes click here:

The first challenge he sets out is to mark a phrase or verse in the text that you have not noticed before! Today's section (John 1:1-18), is so packed full of awe-inspiring theology, of Incarnation, ripe with Trinitarian implications that I have usually glossed over the following phrase which is part of John the Baptist's description of Jesus:

¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

The 'fullness of his grace' is a wonderful phrase, which focuses our thoughts not just on our overwhelming need of God's grace, but on Christ himself, where that grace is to be found. In him that grace is not in short supply either, but we are supplied from his fullness!

"We have received one blessing after another!" John's previous sentence has usually overshadowed this one, when he mentions Jesus' eternal pre-existence. This sentence dramatically earths that insight, as Jesus incarnation from unlimited time, bring to us within time, unlimited blessings, one after another! This phrase reminded me of Paul's joyously convoluted sentence: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? The picture is of a millionaire who we have committed a crime against: instead of pursuing us in the courts, gives us his Rolls, his mansion, his fortune, and his friendship, why then would he quibble over sharing a mars-bar with us!? The suggestion is ludicrous in its proportions! So if God has gives us Himself in Christ, we can trust that He will not withhold any good thing from us, in this life or the next; because in Him is 'one blessing after another.'

(I have no intention of blogging all the way through John - but posted this to kick-start the process!)