Pilgrim's Progress

Surrounded

Before me, behind me
You besiege me.

A literal translation of Psalm 139:5. NIV has "you hem me in", but "besiege" is a closer translation (hence the military feel to the image - note the tanks are in defensive not attacking positions).

It struck me that the siege isn't to keep someone out, but to keep us in! The rest of the Psalm confirms it. Even if the Psalmist tries to flee to the farthest place, he cannot break the siege. Its circumference is simply too wide.

This verse hit me at a time when I'd not been walking closely with God, and felt far away from him. And then came this wonderful assurance - even if I wanted to, I could not break the siege. We simply cannot to a place outside God's love. There is no such place.

The place of foolishness, of spiritual coolness, of deliberate sin, of whatever else is still within the siege.

May you be conscious of being under siege this year
Not by external pressures
But by the loving goodness of a great God.

Prayer for the New Year #3

The next line from the Northumbria prayer (click here) is:

Lord, I will trust you,
Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown

The image posted a couple of days ago fits perfectly, so here it is again. This time, a new tune to go with it:

The Voyage of St Brendan (96K MP3; 8:20 mins; 5.4MB) Higher quality version available on request for non-commercial use in Christian worship, mission etc.

I often say that the last 6 years of ordained ministry have been one long voyage into the unknown, but that isn't the whole story. I realise I have surrounded myself with all kinds of comforts along the way, "safe places" if you like, where it is too easy to hide from the real world!

But that call is coming to me again from somewhere across the sea ... "come and follow me" ...

So, at the doorway of another year, a prayer ...

The year ahead stretches before us like the ocean
Wild, untamed, unknown.
May our trust in Him deepen enough
To climb aboard his purpose for us,
And let his current carry us deeper into him,
Into a life that really counts.

Pray it for me too!

Prayer for the New Year #2

Continuing to meditate on the Northumbria Community prayer, the next line to jump out is a question intended for the reader's own reflection:

Do I still yearn for Your glory to lighten on me?

I long for it again. So, a prayer for you, for me:

May the brilliant glory of Christ
Be seen in his body, the church, again.
And, may we, as broken vessels indwelt by the Light
Make visible his brightness.

What Do You Get if you throw all this together?

Saw The Bays play tonight at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. They were playing with a small orchestra, and the whole thing was improvised. How?

Technically, everyone was linked using Sibelius music software, in the hands of a couple of composers who created a live score and fed it to the orchestra, who had computer monitors instead of music.

The orchestra had a conductor, and The Bays were there too, playing, improvising as usual. So all of these factors wove together to create live music. And a VJ for good measure who was throwing up visuals and the live score on three big screens.

Who was leading the whole thing? The conductor? The composers? The Bays?
That's just it. I don't think there was a single "leader" - it was a wonderful example of organic, relational, cooperative creativity. What emerged was greater than the sum of the parts, and it felt like everyone was listening to each other. I couldn't detect any hint of pretentiousness, but instead it looked like everyone up there was just loving it.

I LOVED IT!! The music was great, especially the finale, which was a kind of orchestral curtain raising full-on drum 'n' bass tune (think Wagner meets LTJ Bukem), but it was the whole experience I will remember - seeing it all magically come together was just awesome.

Come back soon guys!

(Addendum 5.01.08)

I realised how this concert was a great worked example of what yesterday's post was about.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven

I long to see collaborative creativity in the Christian community. There was leadership, and shape, and direction, but it arose organically from relationship and the sharing of creative gifts.

This is how I want to do "church" ...

A Prayer for the New Year #1

On a personal level, the Northumbria prayer in the previous post (click here) gathers up all of my prayers for the journey ahead in 2008. Taking a phrase at a time, perhaps for a week, seems like a great focus for personal prayer.

As I was praying this morning, a little song popped into my head. I decided to try and record it, and here's the result:

To be Yours Alone (96K MP3; 1:10 mins; 980KB) Higher quality version available on request for non-commercial use in Christian worship, mission etc.

So, using some words from the Northumbria Prayer ...

Focus my mind and heart upon you,
My attention always upon you without alteration ...

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven ...

So, at the doorway of another year, a prayer ...

May your spirit be tuned to the sounds of heaven:
The Father's affirming voice;
The Son's life-giving word;
The Spirit's prompting whisper.

Pray it for me too!