SOMEBODY LOST AND FOUND

During the stress of living I seem to spend my time searching for things that I`ve  mislaid. I`ve learned to generally bear horrid things that folk may say about me or unfair or fair criticisms but losing keys or mobile phones is quite another matter. It infuriates me having to waste endless time looking for objects that I`ve absentmindedly mislaid!

Perhaps it`s a sign of getting older but more than once over the last few years I`ve even forgotten where I`ve parked my car when going shopping. One struggles to recall which car park level the car is on and when I`ve found it I realise that I`ve forgotten to buy the main thing that I went shopping for in the first place. The frenzy of Christmas shopping only accentuates these bizarre traits and leaves me wondering what I`ll be like in twenty years time?!

The maddening thing is that when the missing keys or mobile phone do turn up then I don`t remember having put those items in such and such a place in the first place. They seem to turn up in the most unexpected of places – places that I could swear I`ve never been near on that day at all. Those of you who are psychologists would have a field day with all this – especially watching my furious reaction towards myself for being so absentminded in the first place. I`m relieved when I encounter other apparently normal people who seem to possess the same character traits. There`s something comforting about knowing that I`m not the only one who hops up and down in rage like Rumplestiltskin every time I lose something that seems to have a will of its own and walked from the place where I thought I`d last put it!

The parable in all this is that we often get disappointed when we can`t seem to find God in our lives – or maybe we once had a sense of his presence but no longer seem to be able to get it back again. In fact I`ve met those who are positively furious that despite all their sad circumstances in life they cannot find God in it all – let alone experience God actually helping them. Have you ever felt like this?

Some have lost their jobs, been let down in romance or perhaps experienced a difficult bereavement. They look for God to help them but cannot find him. Consequently they turn their back upon an apparently absent and indifferent God who seems to be immune to all their suffering in this life. In fact you wouldn`t be human if you`d never felt this way before.

However, sometimes we look in the wrong places when it comes to discovering God. As with finding that lost set of keys we find that looking in the obvious places yields no results at all. Remember – things tend to turn up in the places where we least expect. We`re left thinking `how on earth did those keys end up there? That`s the last place I`d have thought of looking`. This is true too when one is looking for a post Christmas bargain at the shops. The things we wanted most aren`t always in the shops where we expected them to be.

This is so with God too. God is not always to be found where we expect him to be. This is because God does not always fit into our expectations of where we want or expect him to be. God doesn`t easily slot into our neatly opinionated theories about how He works in the world. His face is sometimes seen in the most unlikely of people and situations – in the sort of people and situations which we tend to avoid or not want to be part of. Human beings are tempted to think that if God doesn`t show Himself in the way that they want then He either doesn`t exist at all or He doesn`t care.

The fun and fascination of God to me is that He reveals himself when I don`t expect Him to and often in places that I`d normally keep away from. He sometimes shows up in the thoughts and actions of people that I actually don`t like very much – the sort I would NOT want to go for a quiet or unquiet pint with!

We all tend to create God in our own image – assuming that He will be just like us and do things in the same way that we would. The Christmas story shows how wrong we are. God revealed his will to a young 14 year old girl called Mary and asked her if she could bear Jesus into the world. The King of the universe was then born in a smelly cow shed and visited by shepherds – who had the reputation of being the `thickies` of the day. God pitched up in unglamorous circumstances.

These are events that were certainly a bit shocking for most religious AND non religious people during the first century. God will not be bound by prejudiced human expectations. We must therefore often look for God precisely where we don`t expect to find Him in order to discover Him. If we knew Him once but seem to have lost a sense of His presence then we need to see that He may now be discovered elsewhere – through different unexpected people and circumstances than before.

The Christmas story is therefore a wake up call for us to not only recognise that God has become a person who meets with us on earth but that he is a person who is found in places and people where we don`t expect to look. This news is exciting and yet unsettling at the same time – but then this is what Christmas is partly about. As for the other aspects of Christmas – more of that next year!

Happy Christmas to you all and don`t forget to celebrate the exciting and positively unsettling news of Christmas by attending a local place of worship over the festive season. Sometimes the presence of God is discovered in church too!

Nick Evans/Vicar

WAITING FOR BUSES?

We live next to the no29 bus route to town. In theory this is very convenient but actually it is much faster to get to town by car because the buses take three quarters of an hour to get to town whereas the car only takes ten to fifteen minutes. The buses go the long way round – all round the Wrekin – but the car takes the fast and direct route in and is much more convenient too because you can set off when you want to without hanging around for buses in the pouring rain.

We spend much of our time in life waiting for things to happen, whether it is the end of a war as in Iraq, waiting for the right partner, waiting for promotion, waiting for a cure from a disease and so on. It can be frustrating and energy sapping as we crane our necks into the future and forget about enjoying the present.

Even at a bus stop we can choose to notice other things around us that maybe we were too busy to notice before we were forced to wait for that bus.

As we wait with nothing else to do we may notice the flowers as life around us in a way in which we had not done before. We may meet someone at the bus stop who is interesting and have the time in our waiting to be able to talk to them in ways in which we were too busy to do before we embarked upon our period of waiting.

We may read something that changes our lives or even start to ponder things to do with God and why we are here on the planet at all.

During periods of waiting there is the opportunity to discover things which elude us while we are busy with the things which we don`t want to wait for – job, family, work, the daily relentless duties and grind through which we earn our living. How often have I heard it said, “I`m too busy to come to church or think about God – I`m too busy just living.”

What is the ultimate goal of all this living and striving? When we stop the spinning roundabout what do we see? What comes into focus? What do we see as our priorities then?

When we have to wait for things in life we have to stop for a while and deal with the silence and the `doing nothing` aspect of waiting at the bus stop. Some are afraid of the silence and of being alone. Maybe they are not used to it and don`t know how to enter the silence where God is because it is a different world to the one they are used to and people are often wary of change.

The silence of waiting is an invitation into the supernatural world where God is and this has to be more exciting than the ghoulish supernatural world that is currently being manifested at Halloween. I can`t see anything positive or joyful about dressing kids in fangs and covering them with fake blood – although I`m not one to  bleat on about the pumpkin season turning our kids into devil worshippers. Sometimes Christians panic too much about the effects of Halloween and through their objections to it they are actually giving the night even greater publicity!

It is much better to present the exciting nature of God rather than to spend our time condemning others - who are unlikely to attend church anyway - just because they are wearing plastic witches hats for one night of the year. In my job I`ve encountered the real dark side and seen things that would make Halloween horror films look like a teddy bears picnic. During this season of remembering the war dead one can also in the silence reflect upon the horrors of war and the huge and evil suffering that is caused by war. This is where real evil is. I don`t see it so much in a child wearing a rubber hag`s mask!

Anyway the key thing is to use fruitfully the periods of waiting that present themselves. Most of my magazine articles, for what they are worth, are conjured up during the reflective moments when while I`m waiting for something or someone. When I drop the concerns of life for a moment then sometimes God can finally whisper through.

If you don`t have to wait for buses very often then we have to create a quiet time in our day when we are still so that we can hear the still small voice of God that so often gets drowned out by our frenzied activity. In fact its better to actively set time aside for God rather then simply only give God the spare bits that are left over when we are waiting for buses. Our quest for God should never just be an afterthought. Silence and stillness strengthens the spirit and allows God to communicate with us.

So set a regular time aside for reflection each day. DON`T be detracted by family, friends and TV. At first you may struggle with the silence and find that nothing happens. Stick with it each day and ask God in your heart to communicate with you. Eventually without realising it yourself others will notice subtle positive changes in you. Ask yourself in the silence why you are here at all and what the purpose of all your striving is. Bring this question before the silence in which God is present. Ask for healing prayer for others and pray for the situations in which you are involved. There is so much one can ask God about in these sacred pools of silence and waiting. Don`t let the discipline of these regular 15 minutes or so slacken.

The bottom line is where the hec do we think we`re going for the rest of eternity if we don`t even give God some tome even when we`ve a few minutes to spare at the bus stop? Are we prepared to encounter God when our time here on earth finally runs out and we are forced to end our frenzied activities and face the living God? Be still then and know that the Lord is your God.

Nick Evans/Vicar

October 2009

You can`t blame folk for switching off when people start talking about church renovations – the refurbishment of toilets and roofs. It doesn`t seem exactly exciting or stimulating and there`s always that lurking feeling that at the end of the conversation one will be asked to contribute a dollop of your hard earned cash to keep the roof on a church building that perhaps you rarely enter!

Currently our loos are being renovated and a new clergy vestry is being created from the space left over so that people can have some privacy and comfort when they talk to the clergy.

Bear with me on all this though because I want to share with you why church buildings are important – even though we all know that the `Church` is really the people of God regardless of whether they have a building to meet in.

Firstly a church building reminds us of the existence of God in a world which is full of shops, houses and traffic. For those who have not encountered Christians driving past St Davids on Shenley Lane reminds them of the existence of, or the need to consider issues to do with God in their lives. Without the church building or the sound of its bell what else physically reminds us of the activity of God in the world?

In a similar way birthday cards, photo albums and anniversary celebrations remind us not to take those we love for granted. We don`t need any of these things but they pull our mind back to ensure that at least for part of the year we don`t forget certain important people in our life. Therefore birthday cards and suchlike are not necessary for our existence but they do play an important role in helping us to focus on somebody who we may be tempted to take for granted in our lives.

War graves do the same thing. We know about the war from history books but the SIGHT of a war grave is a stark reminder that we should never forget. Without seeing the physical monument we may never be reminded of certain important things that have happened or are happening in our personal life or in the life national life.

We can always choose not to read history books but we can`t but help noticing a war grave cemetery in Belgium as we drive past. Our mind is more likely to consider what we have seen – even if for a brief moment.

People visit British cathedrals because they are THERE and not because the public have requested that cathedrals be built in the first place! When they visit they may `catch` something of God`s presence due to the atmosphere of prayer and the visual symbols that are inside the actual building.

So the church building is a reminder to consider our spiritual lives and our relationship with God as we drive past on Shenley Lane.

Secondly, we need church buildings in the western world because of the impact of the weather. Jesus tells us to break bread together at communion and therefore we need a place to meet. Christianity is not a `private` religion – contrary to what some English people seem to think - namely the sort of person who says they`ve got their own views on God so they don`t need to worship, learn or pray with others. How anyone can think that they`ve got GOD all sewn up and doesn`t need to learn from others is beyond me. We learn from each other and therefore need a place during the winter months in which to meet. 

Thirdly, buildings enshrine things that have happened that humans forget about or forget to pass on to their children. Museums and libraries play an important role in this. They keep what we have learned before us so that successive generations don`t have to relearn everything all over again.

Similarly a church and church ritual encapsulates images and facts about God that have been learned over centuries – things that can be seen and passed on to future generations. Some parts of this knowledge are things that we personally need reminding of - or areas of `God stuff` that we don`t want to be reminded of because it makes us uncomfortable. The images and words of worship point us to what we need to be pointed to rather than only the things that we are comfortable with. Sometimes a building enshrines important things about God that we simply forget to teach that the present or future generations need to know.

Fourthly, a building is morally neutral. It is people who upset us in life and sometimes put us off public worship. I`ve never heard of a building being rude to me or criticising my wife or choice of clothes or football team or ethical values!

People often choose to go into churches alone in the week because people aren`t there to upset us or because they wish to be alone with God in a place that is dedicated to him. You can`t argue with a building. We only argue and fall out with people! A church building offers a `safe` place to be away from the nagging demanding family – a place to be still before God surrounded by the things of God.

So folks don`t be put off when there is an appeal for help to maintain the physical structure of the church building. It isn`t all as boring as you think! We spend a lot of time and money getting our own houses in order so for all the reasons listed above lets make sure that God`s temple in Shenley Green is ship shape and in good working order. It is YOUR building set aside for you and Go - so use it or lose it!!

Nick Evans/Vicar

September 2009

SPECIAL VISITS?

During my time in the army I was attached to the Army Air Corps as their chaplain. This consisted of ministering to soldiers who maintained and flew Lynx attack helicopters. These machines were fitted with anti tank missiles and a side door machine gun placement. I also spent time in Bosnia with various Lynx squadrons flying over the rugged terrain of former Yugoslavia.

It was fun at times but also very dangerous since one never knew which bandits in the mountains may take a pot shot at an unsuspecting helicopter. The mountains were full of rebel Serbian forces and terrorist groups.

I learnt a lot about helicopters during my time with number 3 Army Air Corps Regiment and about how costly it is to maintain a helicopter. For example for every flying hour there is something like three to four hours maintenance time that has to be spent ensuring that every part is working correctly before the next flight. Various expensive parts are constantly replaced and many young soldiers are engaged in the technicalities of aircraft maintenance.

The figurehead Colonel in Chief of the Regiment was Prince Charles and periodically we were visited by himself and Princes Harry and William. The preparations for their visits to the base in Britain caused more stress to many than many dangerous days in Bosnia! So many things had to be organised and timed to perfection on the helicopter base. Even the shrubs had to be made to look pristine and the aircraft themselves were given a good scrub down. Every mess block was cleaned to perfection and the troops were inspected rigorously by their company sergeant majors. Woe betide any soldier who wasn`t immaculately turned out on the day of the royal visit!

It was all exactly the same at my last post with an infantry unit when they were preparing for a visit by their Colonel in chief, Prince Andrew. The base was a flurry of activity and yours truly had to prepare a sermon for the day too. This was fortunately appreciated by the Prince who ensured that a few bottles of wine ended next to me during the ensuing dinner! Gosh what a name dropping article the Vicar`s article is this month!

I suspect that if the Queen paid a visit to your house you`d do a bit of preparation too. Perhaps you`d give the house a spring clean, put on your best bib and tucker and ensure that the best teacups are used. The kids would be told to be on their best behaviour and drilled to say please and thank you at the right moments and we`d be careful of our language and coming out with some of those dodgy jokes that only our best friends generally hear!

Having said all this though I found that my encounters with royalty were relaxed since they weren`t as stiff upper lipped as I`d previously assumed. They didn`t seem too concerned about whether we`d bought new shrubs for the garden in preparation for their visit. They were more bothered about other things and seemed to want to know us personally and share a sense of humour with us all. I`d have to therefore say that my personal encounters with royalty and royal connections have been surprisingly positive and I`m no longer the rabid republican that I once was!!

Now how many of us look forward to a visit – or arrange a visit – from the greatest royal figure known to man? Not the Queen in Shenley Green but the presence of Jesus himself? We prepare to receive worldly monarchs and Princes with great gusto but tend to sideline God himself who would love to be invited into our homes and hearts. 

We will probably never receive the Queen into our homes or ever have to prepare for that occasion. I doubt if she really wants to come to my vicarage or to a house in Greenmeadow Road – and she`d certainly find that her corgies would have trouble coping with our Yorkie Willow – who I suspect has strong republican tendencies!

It all begs the question as to whether we want to, or how we prepare for the royal visit of Jesus into our lives. It is our hearts and not our physical homes that need to be made ready. 

To receive the presence of Jesus doesn`t require us to be perfect people but only a willingness to want to meet him and share with him. Like my surprise at how informal our British royalty was when I met them you may be surprised at how pleasant an encounter with God actually is when he is invited into your life.

Of course you may have already met with Jesus and be able to share with others something of the nature of God`s personality so don`t be afraid of chatting about God – the royal visitor in YOUR life who doesn`t give a fig what street you live in or whether you`ve replaced the garden shrubs in anticipation for his visit!!

Get that personal invite out as soon as you can.

Nick Evans/Vicar

August 2009

DEEPLY MOVED?

I wonder what things in life deeply move you? Sometimes I am moved by a good film or by seeing someone in great distress. I can remember other times in life that stand out in my mind with great clarity like being at a League Cup Final once to see Villa play Everton when I was a youth. 

The Wembley experience inspired me and gave me a sense of occasion and ceremony. It made me feel that if more people were interested in sport then the world would be a better place. Sport joins folk together in a way that politics and religion often do not. It is harmless, involves healthy competition and is physically beneficial to us. Sporting events often stick out in my mind. I remember playing for Queens Theological College in 1983 in a inter colleges Cup Final. 

You don`t easily forget moments like that – the journey to the ground, the supporters, the fun and the party after the game – even though I played dreadfully and the score was a 0-0 draw. We lost on the basis that Queens had scored fewer goals in the preceding rounds of the competition compared to the Methodist College team that we were playing against in the final. It was a miracle that we even reached the final with our ageing team and shortage of talent and this made the event even more memorable!

We re-run in our minds memorable times. Perhaps you can remember clearly your child being born or some other high point in your family life – you re-live it and share the memory with your friends. We can remember how much that baby weighed and what colour hair they had at birth and later on we capture the moment in our minds when the baby utters his first words. We are moved by such events and changed by them so that we are not the same people as we used to be several years on from such events.

I believe that this is the case when you capture a moment during worship – a God moment for YOU. Something happens deep within us that we can`t quite explain and yet we are deeply moved. Somehow during a hymn or the sermon or during communion we glimpse the mystery or presence of God in a way that hadn`t previously happened at home.

To experience God deeply leads to a desire to worship God with our hearts and our heads and to support the church that keeps the knowledge of God or the reminder of God`s presence alive. Similarly when we have experienced the beauty of a certain person we want to be in their presence more. We look for opportunities to meet with them. We go to where they are or say they`ll be like a love sick teenager who hangs around a part of town where he knows where the object of his crush will turn up. Just a glimpse of that person will deeply move them and they`ll be back for another glimpse, or something better, next time round.

Those who are regular to worship in church are often those who have glimpsed God there or have been profoundly moved by a God experience in their life inside or outside of church worship. Since the church is about God stuff they turn up to church for worship on Sundays and at other times – because it is to do with the God that they have experienced who has moved them deeply. 

When you truly experience God then I believe you are drawn to worship with others too. There is no question of perpetuating the nonsense that we don`t need to go to worship in church in order to have a right relationship with God. Jesus commanded us to break bread together on his day - Sunday in our culture. 

To have experienced God in your life means that you will be drawn to worship with others whom God loves. It is where God has promised to be – `where two or there are gathered in my name then there am I amongst you` said Jesus. Therefore our faith is not solitary – it is a journey that we do together. We learn together, worship together, break bread together – and in so doing we experience more of the activity of the God who has profoundly moved us in our individual `God moments`.

Do you want to be part of this? If you are the sort of person that is fit and healthy do any of these reasons stop you coming to church: a relative is coming that Sunday: it is raining: you don`t feel like coming: it might cause family friction with the kids or other half: you have too much DIY around the house to do:

If you fit into any of these categories for not going to church then you probably have not experienced the living God yet because if you had then you`d be chomping at the bit to get where God has promised to be on Sunday mornings – the breaking of bread at communion. If you`ve been genuinely and deeply moved by God you`d want to be there – not just for yourself but for God too.

I`d go so far as to say that it doesn`t matter whether the service is solemn or `happy clappy` because God shows up at both. Sometimes he`s at the sort of service that we don`t like.

We have to grow up and see that the important thing is to BE THERE!

Nick Evans/Vicar

July 2009

ARE YOU A BUDDY OF THE INLAND REVENUE?

We’ve heard a lot in the news about politician’s expenses and the media have really gone to town on this one. The impression given is that ALL politicians are corrupt even though in reality it is a minority who have made excessive expenses claims and only one of the 100s of MPs has claimed expenses on a moat refurbishment for his stately manor!

It has got to the point where any MP who has made a questionable £50 claim for something over the past seven years or so is being scrutinised and risks their career being shredded by the newspapers. In my experience politicians do a difficult job and are actually underpaid for the work that they do. The prime minister himself has a comparatively low income compared to what the captains of industry, David Beckham or the recently departed Michael Jackson earns.

In reality of course many folk photocopy the odd document for private use on the works machine or use work resources for domestic purposes – the famous saying about a company biro being found in many homes still holds true. As one lady vicar said to an indignant member of the public whist I was waiting to conduct a funeral, “well most people would probably pull a fast one if they thought they could get away with it – especially where money is concerned.”

I think she was referring to the way in which people fill in their tax return forms so that the tax man thinks they are poorer than they actually are. Perhaps some folk over exaggerate their expenses so that more can be offset against tax. In fact many I know would try to ensure that the taxman claims as little of their income as possible. People spend a fortune hiring accountants so they only pay the barest minimum of tax possible or a consultant is often hired to find tax loopholes and other ways of keeping the tax burden down.

Of course those in public life have to try their best to be above reproach and nobody would argue with that. However the spiritual truth is that human beings are all prone to find loopholes to benefit themselves and their own families in all areas of life. Some sail closer to the wind than others as they fill in their tax returns or use company resources for private use.

How we judge what is acceptable is open to debate since people have differing value systems. The extreme view would be to sack someone on the grounds of theft for taking a company pen home on the basis that if they are dishonest about the biro then what else are they being dishonest about?  I suppose it is theft but how rigorous are we prepared to be as a society? Sometimes such scrupulous honesty borders upon the pastorally inappropriate and sledgehammers are used to crack nuts! Would you sack somebody for photocopying a personal letter on the works machine or if they had taken a company pen home when there are others who are involved in defrauding the public of millions of pounds? As a society we need a sensible debate about such issues away from the type of knee jerk press and public reactions that give us the impression that all our leaders are corrupt compared to honest ‘Joe Public’.

In the Christian faith there are many areas of life, including this issue, in which an appropriate response to a given situation has to be worked out through discussion and prayer. The Bible isn’t clear cut about some controversial situations. In St Paul’s epistles you can see how the writer is trying to grapple with the context of some divisive scenarios.

The worst response possible for a Christian or any thoughtful person is to jump to conclusions without possessing all the facts. When in possession of all the facts our inbuilt prejudices are usually modified and the thought of running with the lemmings recedes. Mass prejudices are dangerous and there are still millions who take what they read in the newspapers as unquestionable fact.

Jesus stood up against many traditional prejudices of his day. He risked ridicule and chastisement by not practising the prejudices of the masses. It is a lonely furrow to plough when one stands up and says, ‘hey folks there is another way of looking at this issue or this person who we are all condemning.’

Once we cast the first stone we are in a spiritually precarious situation in our private and public lives. Yes issues need to be spoken about and dealt with but the excessive personal attacks on others need to be guarded against. As it is said – when we point a finger at someone else then the other three on the same hand are pointing back at us. Try it and see!

As for politicians expense claims it seems to me that the system is predominantly at fault and if MPs wages were improved then the temptation for some to cheat on expenses would be reduced. Those who are clearly and hugely in the wrong have to be disciplined but I suspect that the problem isn’t as great as the newspapers are making out. So I’ll go against a prevailing view by saying well done to most politicians of all the main parties for the sterling job that they do and don’t be disheartened by the antics of a corrupt few colleagues.

Let us keep out local politicians in our prayers at all times. They have a very important role to fulfil in society. It is a difficult and thankless job they undertake and most of them do go into the job for altruistic reasons to serve the public. Talk to your local politicians and find out for yourselves.

Nick Evans/Vicar

June 2009

 I’m always struck by those folk at church services who may be new or taken by someone else who stare blankly ahead of them when a well known hymn is sung with their lips tightly shut – as if God is nothing to do with them and they are nothing to do with God. In my head are questions like, ‘Don’t they realise that the God we’re worshipping is the one that resurrects their granny and that we are all on a spiritual journey to discover the meaning of our existence?’

Heavy questions you may say but then they are important ones – and questions to do with God require asking and seeking for the answers. Such questions about how we discover and relate to God are fundamental to everyone’s future and in to my mind cannot just be ignored. It is all something to do with why we are here at all. Don’t some people want to know that? When I was a teenager I wanted to know why I was here and what the purpose of my life was. I couldn’t believe it was just to grow up, get a job, have kids and then die. What on earth is the point of that?! With that philosophy everything leads to nothing for everyone. Life simply becomes about the survival of the species and little else. I am convinced that there is a lot more purpose to our existence than that – for theological and scientific reasons.

If you find some services a bit starchy then how about spending Sunday night at a praise service at St David’s? To my mind it’s better than sitting in front of the telly doing much of the same week after week. There is a service at 6.30pm every two weeks either in the church or the hall and I’d encourage you to come along and experience a more informal style of worship in which the praise of your creator is still the main focus – but done slightly differently.

The focus of all our worship is upon connecting with God – it’s NOT about what miserable sinful wretches we all are. Therefore whatever is going on in your life come and get caught up with praise anyway.

It is difficult to describe what goes on in our minds and heart when we get lost in wonder, love and praise with God. It’s a bit like trying to describe to another, what a certain food tastes like that others may not have eaten or what being in love is. They are experiences that have to be entered into in order to be understood. To appreciate the importance of praise is something that we have to enter into rather than observe from the edge of what is going on.

Praise is not only about appreciating God – it’s fundamentally a lot more than that. It is about reaching our souls into another perhaps unfamiliar place – something that lies beyond this world. It is about allowing ourselves to be open to God communicating with us and we with him. It is about, at least for an hour or so during a service, suspending our long held prejudices and disappointments and focussing on the things to do with heaven and letting God’s presence filter into our life – even just for that moment.

So often we do or don’t come before God rather grudgingly, full of complaints about how we’ve ‘fallen out’ with God because things have gone wrong in our lives. It is important – at least for a short time to put that aside and be open enough to give God a chance to communicate with us. This often happens best during public worship and the privacy of our own home is not always the best place to do this. The world is full of people that say they don’t come to church because they’ve given God a chance in their private lives to sort them out and yet he has remained silent.

God makes it clear in scripture and during public worship that he tends to speak to us individually and collectively when we worship TOGETHER. This is one reason why folk are often deeply moved by something that happens in public worship.

Praise is the key to unlocking the problems of our past, present and future. When you allow yourself to get caught up in the atmosphere of praise then I believe something happens that unlocks and releases the problems we carry with us throughout our lives. Praise for its own sake affects a state of change in our circumstances and in the lives of those we pray for and are concerned about.

We have the rest of the week in which to analyse, observe and grumble about what we think God is NOT doing for us. A service of praise doesn’t require a deep faith, academic intelligence or even a great understanding of what is going on. It requires a willingness to simply be open with excited anticipation of what God can do for you if we are open to experiencing his activity in your life.

So the key to change is less of the shopping list of our complaints and demands and more praise of the God who loves you more than anyone else on earth – whether you’ve `fallen out` with him or not. HE certainly hasn’t fallen out with you whatever you feel about him!

Come along and do something you don’t usually do – PRAISE!

Nick Evans/Vicar

 

May 2009

WHO REALLY GETS UP YOUR NOSE?!

Within this magazine is a copy of the Vicar`s Report that was submitted to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting which took place during April. Have a look at the report before reading on!

As I reviewed the year just gone I was aware that the church, like any other human institution, has its strengths and failings. No organisation run by people is ever perfect and this includes the Church – even though we are committed to building God`s Kingdom on earth. We all struggle to discover and interpret what God`s desire is for us as individuals and as a body. Nobody gets it right all of the time but at least we have each other (fellowship) to learn from and seek together with. The goal of our seeking is a high and important one because it concerns God and issues of our eternity and what Christians refer to as us being `saved` by Christ`s sacrifice.

The important thing to recognise is that the seeking is done by those who, like myself, have many glaring faults. This makes Christians easy prey for those who say they don`t need the church because it is full of hypocrites who are nothing like Jesus. Often the critics of imperfect Christians retreat into private religion and regularly use the phrase ` you don`t have to go to church to be a Christian.`

I start from the premise that I and the flock are all faulty broken vessels who God uses - so I am not put off when one discovers a glaring fault in my fellow Christian. We go to church BECAUSE we are sinners and NOT because we are saints!

Whatever people`s faults and hypocrisies the Church is still God`s chosen vessel through which He imparts knowledge about himself and the good news of salvation. The Church lays specific emphasis upon SALVATION and what we mean by the love of God. Without this then people`s understanding of God is likely to remain a vague concept of striving to be a sort of good moral person which is disconnected from any relationship with God or the knowledge that God in Christ DIED for them on the cross and the forgiveness that this involves.

However moral or immoral folk are there is no other source stating how God saved us for eternity other than what is taught by the Church. Nobody is totally moral so the forgiveness of God is an important component of this teaching. Where else is this taught other than by the Church? How else would this message be kept alive without churches across the land? This is all taught and lived by people who are imperfect but the message they bring to the world is really important.

To put it another way – would you rather go to a rude unpleasant doctor who knew the cure for your disease or would you rather visit a charming friendly loving doctor who hadn`t a clue how to treat your disease? Some church folk are like the latter but the knowledge they share about you, me and God is vital to our futures.

So church folk fall into the same variety and personality types as work colleagues in the office or factory floor. There are those who whinge and complain and nit pick. There are those who are lethargic whereas others are hot headed and impatient. Some are kinder and more generous than others whereas others are more diligent than the lazy amongst us. There are those who are quiet and sullen and there are those who dominate social and church events with their big egos. You`ve seen them all in daily life at work and the local leisure centre or bingo hall!

You`ll see them in church too! Thank God I`m not among a congregation of saints because that would be hard to live with and I`d stand out like a sore thumb!

The difference is that whatever their personal strengths or failings the Christian is one who holds to the message of God`s salvation and acknowledges that things happen to us in church worship which affect us deeply. This fellowship and activity of God is not something that is usually taught or experienced outside of Christian fellowship – regardless of how good or bad a person we are.

The annual report is my view of where we are as a body of people who struggle to present the real Jesus to the world – the exciting life giving, humorous, dynamic and colourful Jesus – rather than the media and folk lore`s rather straight laced moralistic puritanical perception of Jesus.

We`ve seen amazing things happen at St David`s over the last year – folk experiencing God first hand, healings and changed lives. These are things that rarely happen in the lives of those who resort to only their private views of God and `religion` at home. Yes we have our faults at St David`s and there are still many who, despite their shortcomings, stand up for God and his church and pour their time, energy and money into keeping the knowledge of God alive in Shenley Green. Together we help each other, learn to forgive each other, work with each other, bear each others faults and draw from others` strengths. Jesus made it clear that if we`re to call ourselves followers of his then it is about more than just good morals. It is about prayer and breaking bread together and discovering him in each other in daily life and in worship on a Sunday.

You can`t learn all about God all on your own as if God is a sort of private club with a membership of two!

Whatever my private views of individual churchgoers I am heartily glad that they are still part of the family of God – of which I am a part - and turn up to break bread with myself and others on Sunday when so many thousands of others do not.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to keep the rumour of God alive over the past twelve months in Shenley Green. It certainly makes my job a lot easier!!

Nick Evans/Vicar

April 2009

 I recently went to the tyre place to have four new tyres on my humble Rover 100 – a sort of Mini Metro looking car. Its not the sort of car a boy racer would prefer to boost his image since its small, outdated and TURQUOISE! Consequently, as well as being constrained by my income, I always opt for the cheapest tyres available but this time the mechanics discovered that the wheel tracking was also out of alignment. This meant that constantly driving over speed humps in the road had made the steering go off line so that the front wheels were pointing in opposite directions. This ultimately is unsafe and makes the tyres wear faster.

Anyway for those of you I’ve given lifts to I’m glad to say that £160 later my humble mean machine is now roadworthy again and perfectly safe!

Of course not being one to waste time while it was all being fixed, I felt given an image of it all that applies to issues to do with us and God.

I thought primarily of the wheels facing in different directions and reflected upon my observations of people in daily life and the direction in which folk choose to travel.

It seems to me that there are broadly two different types of people when it comes to matters concerning God. There are those who thirst for, or are fascinated by, things to do with questions of God and eternity – and there are those who are not.

I find that the latter do anything to change the subject if anyone drifts onto discussing or sharing anything to do with God. They tend to avoid reading about such topics or watching anything to do with it all on TV or the media in general. I don’t mean that this is their response to `Bible bashers` because most of us get angry at their bullying approach to religion and either argue with them or tell them to buzz off! I’m talking about those who persistently and deliberately switch off to any issues of time and eternity which relate to God and their relationship with God.

After asking around as to why this is so people from all walks of life tend to give several reasons for this switching off response to God issues – namely:

 1.       An avoidance of a God who they perceive as a vengeful moralist

2.     Fear of the unknown and what they can’t control

3.     A bad experience of the church or religious people when younger

4.     Sheer spiritual laziness due to the materialism of this life

5.     Concern that their friends and families will not approve/peer pressure

6.     A perception that God is associated with institutionalism and regulations

7.     A belief that anything to do with God is anti fun and unsexy

8.     A sense that they aren’t ‘holy enough’ to be pursuing God stuff or church

All of these responses are what some people who do not go to church have shared with myself and other members of the church. These factors lie behind the direction in which some people have chosen to live their lives. It is important to also say at this point that one can still be a spiritual person without going to church – but the church does have particular claims that need to be examined carefully

The choice as to which path to explore is ours.                                    

January 2009

BURIED TREASURES AND DEMONS

The beginning of 2009 is a good marker point to consider where we are in our work, faith and relationships. I have to say that I`m not one for making new year`s resolutions in a vain attempt to clean up bad habits. Usually such attempts fail miserably by the end of January as the relentless surge of life and responsibilities takes a grip over and above any new year`s resolutions! One feels that one has enough to cope with without trying to adhere to a batch of self imposed new rules for any coming new year.

However one famous writer once said that `a life unexamined is nothing worth.`

At some point in our lives we have to begin to see ourselves and the content of our lives in the light of cold daylight.

What are the issues that drag us down that we never seem to deal with effectively? What are the buried treasures too within us that never seem to emerge to the surface – our hidden talents and abilities?

What are the things this year that God wants to look at again?

So often events from our past act as brakes on our development as human beings created in the image of God. Unhappy events from our childhood may still plague our present state of mind. Maybe an unhappy event in our lives has coloured our whole interpretation of life – something that we just can`t get over. Perhaps we are locked into an unrewarding friendship or marriage and this bit by bit destroys our ability to truly enjoy the life that God intends for us. Sometimes something important and direct needs to be spoken to somebody else – and that something just can`t come out of us for fear of what someone else will think.

Some are trapped in unfulfilling jobs or bound by worry for their young or adult children`s antics in life. Others have all they need materially but still sense a lurking lack of that vital ingredient that leads to true happiness.

Behind all of these `bondages` is often a fear of initiating the change that can reverse the heartache of many years – so that our true selves and talents can come to the fore in our lives.

All of us have something in our lives that needs to be examined again in 2009 – however mentally and emotionally painful this may be to us. Inner integrity of thinking and expression is a prized asset in God`s Kingdom of truth and light. To grapple with these inner `demons` is to invite God into our lives to help us. Wherever truth is sought then God steps in to help out. He loathes fear and inner unhappiness which are not His goals for our lives.

We often reveal a different side of ourselves to others than what is really going on deep down in our true feelings. The shrub on the surface of the land looks very different to the longer roots which penetrate even more deeply into the hidden depths beneath the soil. So it is with our thoughts and emotions.

This solitary world within us often goes untended and unexamined. It is difficult to know where to start and who to trust to help us in this awesome journey. Often our families or well meaning friends do not have the wisdom or aptitude to know how to help us – so we stay locked in our inner hidden world and struggles preferring to keep things to ourselves – persuading others that we are doing okay with life.

It is this wilderness that Jesus encountered during his 40 days in the desert – the encounter with his own inner self before God. This is the pattern of a Christian`s life too – to be able to have the courage to do this alone before God.

However there are resources to help us in this journey. There are books to read on these relevant issues. There is also the resource of those who have been there before and this could be clergy or laity.

Speaking as a priest we were trained to be able to share and listen to people`s deep experiences of their hearts. It is in this sharing that God manifests himself and is seen to move. When one heart meets another then there is God in the centre for both to experience. When one circle overlaps with another there is a section in the middle and this middle part is like the space where God is when two people, circles, overlap. God visited earth as a person and where two people really share then that has something to do with the presence of God.

So during this coming year consider the deep recesses and desires of your hearts and address what may be lurking there and holding you back from true happiness. This may be painful but one never could make an omelette without breaking an egg!

Try to share with someone who is trusted and wise and let God do the rest. You may find real treasure too buried underneath the sludge being hoovered from your soul! Use your local church to help you on this pilgrimage. It was put here by God to help you through the wilderness that lies within.

So as we do this may we all have a truly happy new year and be happier and changed people by 2010!

Nick Evans/Vicar