Serving without Sinking

Have you ever had that moment where you are just really fed up of serving? At first it was a joy but now it’s just boring and repetitive. It feels like you are the only one who is serving while everyone else has gone home. And no one praises you or encourages you. Day in and day out it you slog away and you’re tired. You’re tired of it all.

Does that sound familiar? If it does, can I recommend a book to you? I know, another book to read – but it has been one of the most helpful books I’ve read on serving.

Serving without Sinking – by John Hindley is a book that is Christ focused. In fact you spend over half the book looking at Jesus and how He serves you. This really makes you examine your heart and the motives of your heart towards serving. You could be like the person I described above where you are just fed up of serving and you feel very discouraged and tired of it all. Then this book will remind you how Christ serves you first and how he delights in you. It will melt your heart to see the love that Christ has for you. With this in mind it changes the way you think about serving from a “I should do” or a “I have to” turned to a “I want to” and “I delight to” Why? because every bit of service – making tea, printing music, washing tables, welcome team is all serving Jesus and we can do that because he first and foremost serves us.

Or perhaps you are someone who isn’t like the person above – maybe you only serve to get recognition or you just can’t be bothered to serve others. John Hindley reminds us what kind of master we have – He is good and kind and he calls us to serve him. Again he calls us to this only after he has first served us. He is a serving master who loves his servants, servants who are sons and daughters of his Father. He calls us to serve with a glad heart – looking to Christ and not for recognition from others. We can do this because we have the Lord who knows us and a Father who sees what we do in secret.

I found this book to be good news for my heart. It’s a short book but with a deep focus on Jesus. I feel like it is something we all need at the moment.

You can get the book at the Good Book Company.

Ali Bolton has read and reviewed the book here.

Collection of Webs: April

Here is a monthly collection of webs where I share with you what I have been reading on blogs, articles, books and what I have been watching or listening to. If you have missed any collection of webs this year you can find them all on this page.

Blogs Posts from friends:

Bryony writes about her Church Youth Weekend away: If you have Jesus, then you have everything you need for life. Not just today, not just in this moment, but for your whole life. (Amen to that!)

I am currently studying 2 Timothy with Bish at the moment, so it’s always great to see him blog about it. Here is a cracking post about maturity: “Wisdom is chewy.
Wisdom is slow-cooker.”

Emily unpacks the story of Elijah when he stops to rest under the broom tree. Its a great little post to encourage you!: “I know the journey is too great for you. Here, eat this, and drink a little of this water.’

Mike Shaw writes about students and their final year exams, an encouraging post in a season of exams and anxieties for students: “So as many students enter their final year, their priority has to be cross shaped, not exam shaped.”

Tanya wrote an amazing and challenging post on Disability living allowance in the UK. This is certainly worth a read: “It is plain misleading, and the truth of what is happening is being buried under debates about Wizard of Oz songs in the charts.”

Blog Posts Out There:

An article about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s daughter and her battle with depression: “Christians who suffer from depression find themselves “suffering quietly and in fear of what their friends would say”, she said.”

What happens when you really disconnect? “By the end of nine days, I felt empowered and enriched. With my brain quieter, I was able to take back control of my attention.”

Pam writes about Naming the Top: “I’m sure Jesus mentioned something about arguing who is the greatest”

David Murray writes I’d rather be a godly administrator than an ungodly minister: “You spend your week filing papers, printing reports, chasing up bad debts, putting stamps on envelopes. Then you go to church on Sunday and you see a man leading hundreds in worship and prayer, and preaching inspiring sermons. It’s pretty obvious who’s pleasing God most isn’t it?”

Books:

I finished reading Life of Pi! Which I really enjoyed, I haven’t seen the film yet but I really want to! I think its such a clever book and lots of themes can be drawn out from it!

I’m now reading Cloud Atlas which is a fun and really different book. I am only a quarter of the way through but I think all the lives of different people will link together throughout the book!

I’m also reading Serving without Sinking by John Hindley which has been an encouraging read. Its been focusing me back onto Christ which is certainly what I need!

In the Garden:

We have started gardening this year. Already planted: Carrots, potatoes, garlic, broccoli and leeks in the raised beds. In the green house we have Aubergines, Peppers and Tomatoes! Already some of the potatoes and garlic are showing leaves above ground which is very exciting!! I hope to give you updates on these as the year goes by.

Posts on my blog:

Stewarding, Strife and Smiles: My account of the challenges of stewarding at a conference.

Two Years of Marriage: What I have learnt in my marriage so far.

Introverts at a Conference: How an introvert can survive going to a conference!

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing

At first glance you may think this book is a children’s book. But once you delve into the beautiful pages you soon realise this is a book for all ages. “Thoughts to make your heart sing” is a collection of stories, thoughts with bible passages and illustrations written by Sally Lloyd Jones and Jago. Sally also wrote the story book bible which is a fantastic book and this would make such a great companion to that book.

Each page is filled with stories that truly does make your heart sing. And the songs you will be singing will be about Jesus. They are heart-warming thoughts about our wonderful saviour and what he has done for us and how he cares and loves us. They are simple and short yet piercing and captivating. I really love reading the stories.

The illustrations are brilliant and drawn by Jago. They really capture the message of each thought and story and they are just really nice to look at as you read the book.

This is the kind of book you could use in your devotional time. You can open the pages when you feel a bit lost and lonely and be reminded of Christ. You could also read the stories to your children and show them the wonder and beauty of Jesus.

I would recommend this book for every Christian and I would also think it would be good to give to a non-Christian as well. Tim Keller says:

“I would urge not just families with young children to get this book, but every Christian–from pew warmers, to ministry leaders, seminarians and even theologians! Sally Lloyd-Jones has captured the heart of what it means to find Christ in all the scriptures, and has made clear even to little children that all God’s revelation has been about Jesus from the beginning–a truth not all that commonly recognized even among the very learned.”

 

Collection of Webs: January

So I saw this idea of doing a blog round-up through Tanya and I thought it was such a fun way of doing Collection of Webs. But this time it will be monthly and include lots of other little things like books being read and films watched etc. Hopefully this will be a bit of fun.

Blogs Posts from friends:

Bryony chats about the Gospel in the Job center – some great reading here: “I have really noticed that the job centre communicate a clear ‘gospel’ story (or worldview) that is completely in a realm of its own.”

Dan Hames shares a quote on: What to do when you just can’t pray.

Bish shares some reflections on the early Christian Unions: The story is the same today – there’s a legacy to inherit, but the Christian Unions are built on Christian freshers turning up in halls and standing together. We stand on the foundation of home churches and youth work, we stand on the work of God in people.

Ellie shares her thoughts on Purity.

A poem written by my husband about taking communion.

Blog Posts Out There:

An article on how men see women and sports. This was really insightful and interesting: The way we consume iconic national events like the Super Bowl better depicts what we really believe about women than does anything else. For in the invisibility of normality, there we find our idolatry.

Mike Reeves writes about why not having Adam and Eve is actually bad news for the Gospel.

A good post on Luther and his way with colourful words…

Books:

I have set myself a mini project this year which is to read War and Peace. I have just finished book 1 out of 15. Its going well and I hope to finish it before the year is up. But there some people in the world that read War and Peace more than once!

Also reading:

Game of Thrones book 3 and

Where is God when it hurts by Philip Yancy.

Music:

Currently enjoying some songs by Bethel and Boy and His kite.

As well as Rend Collective Experiment

Watching:

Extremely loud and incredibly close

Also loving Miranda, Call the Midwife and Ripper Street.

What are you enjoying at the moment?

Favourite Posts on my Blog:

1.Can we know God?

2.The Heat of Love

3.No Airbrush Please

4.The biggest problem in Church

On Poetry

I love writing poetry. But I often forget that I love poetry because I go through a desert land of writing. Today however, I was reminded by a tweet from Tanya saying “because the world needs good poets” that I really enjoy writing poetry.

Writing poetry is a lot of fun and for me a opportunity to express my thoughts in a different way. It comes from loving words and sounds of words. For me to write poetry I like to hear how words sound together, how the tone is, how they shape the rest of the poem and how they bring to mind images and places.

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
― Robert Frost

I like to read poetry as well. My favourite poets are Sylvia Plath, William Blake, William Yates and T.S.Eliot. I love poems that use imagery and can capture the audience, sucking them into the place and emotion the author is talking about.

“The night sky is only a sort of carbon paper,
Blueblack, with the much-poked periods of stars
Letting in the light, peephole after peephole—
A bonewhite light, like death, behind all things.”
— Sylvia Plath (Selected Poems)

 

It’s a shame that we don’t tend to read or write much poetry now. It’s not a common medium we use to communicate. But Tanya is right, the world needs poets, to write poetry and read poetry because it’s a lot of fun!

What are your favourite poems/poets?

Books in 2012

Last year I wrote about the books I read in 2011. In 2012 I managed to read more books – 31 books in total. Which doesn’t feel like a lot at all, but it’s quite fun setting this little goal for me each year. Now armed with a kindle (thank you lovely husband) my hope is that I will read more books and more classic books at that! But let me share with you some of my favourite books of this year! Here they are in no particular order:

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy – I thought these books were a great adventure and I enjoyed the film. The second book wasn’t fantastic but I liked the fact the ending was different to how I expected it. This is a great book for those that like suspense!

 

2. Game of Thrones – I quite enjoyed this book and book 2 of this series (only 3 more to go!). It’s a good fantasy series, although slightly heavy going if you’re not normally into the fantasy genre. But I love the plot twists and the character developments in this story. Its got lots of fighting, romance, dragons and mystery! Brilliant

 

3. If God, Then What? – This book by Andrew Wilson was probably one of the best apologetic books I have read and a book I would gladly give to my non-Christian friends. Its thought-provoking, great at asking questions and leads you into a story that really makes you question what you think. Good stuff.

 

4. The Good God – This is a book about the Trinity written by Mike Reeves. Most books I read on the trinity can be quite off-putting and boring, but the Good God is one of the best books on the Trinity. It is heart warming, easy to read and it draws you in to see how our relational Triune God is Good news for all of us compared to a one person God. This is one to read for 2013!

 

5. A New Name – A wonderful and heart wrenching book written by Emma Scrivener. I have recommended this book to so many people. Emma shares her story and her battle with anorexia. Although this book is about anorexia and Emma’s life, it also speaks to the heart about the human problem and how our hearts run after idols. This is a challenging book.

 

 

6.The Hobbit – I read the Hobbit this year, mostly because the film has come out and I wanted to finally get round to reading it. I loved it, I forgot how much I enjoy reading Tolkien’s books. It’s a great fantasy adventure with all your favourite characters!

 

Well 2013 is upon us and I have a list of books brewing for me to read. But I am open for recommendations. What do you think I should read in 2013?

 

A New Name Review

I finally got my hands on Emma Scrivener’s new book – “A new name – Grace and Healing for anorexia”. This is such a good book that I read it in a day and just found myself very moved and challenged by Emma’s story. When you pick up this book you may thinking that it isn’t for you because you don’t have anorexia, but as my friend Emily wrote on her blog - “So why read A New Name? Because we are all sick, and we are all sinners. And Jesus is the one who has come, like light into a dark, cold place, to bring life and freedom by giving us Himself.”

This is a story that all of us could read and on different levels identify with whats going on. I think Emma is a fantastic writer, her words grip you on every page and she carries you along her story that can make you laugh or move you to tears. She is honest and open and that’s what I like about it, she connects with the audience and isn’t afraid to paint the real picture of anorexia and the real picture of having idols.

The part that captured me most was when Emma met Jesus and saw the Lion and the Lamb. As I read her experience it seemed truly breath-taking. It reminded me of who Jesus really is – a husband sacrificing himself for us and inviting us  to be with his Father who has his arms wide open for us. Emma found her identity in Christ. This is a wonderfully testimony to read and she is honest in saying it’s not all over, she isn’t riding off into the sunset with a Happy Ever After Flag…she is still fighting and from her blog she is not hiding her battles but she is reminding us who she is in Christ.

This is why all Christians and non christians should read it. We are all broken and all running after idols that never satisfy us. Emma is really honest about this, yet often we aren’t. Often I am not – I want to hide away my sin and idols. But what Emma has taught me is that my identity isn’t in them but in Christ and those idols don’t own me because I am free in Christ, therefore I don’t need to hide or prove myself to anyone and neither do you. She shows us that there is always hope and that Jesus will never leave us.

Buy this book. Read her blog. Encourage her and be encouraged that Jesus loves you and your identity is in him.

JPOD Staff Worker Version 2.5

Not long ago I read JPOD by Dougles Coupland, which I really enjoyed probably because I spent a year in IT support at University and can relate to the randomness of this book and at heart I am a geek! During the book there are pages full of random quotes and sentences that just add to the surreal life of Ethan and his JPOD companions. How far from reality is JPOD? Probably not that far off, although no one seems to sleep and they go on random trips to China (which hasn’t happened to me yet). But perhaps in the fiction there is a base of reality that highlights the mundane and splashes it across absurdity. So it occurred to me that for fun I could write my own page of JPOD but relating to being a UCCF Staff Worker. And of course it is meant to be weird and not taken seriously.

STAFF WORKER version 2.5

Year 3 upgrade

Please press any key to continue..

FILTER COFFEE GOSPEL and a muffin.

“Come and have Breakfast”

Fish and Chips after death.

Freedom. Gospel. Grace. Love.

Are you a miserable Christian?

I Blog. I Think. I Drink...

Mac books are in Heaven?

I wear Fat Face. I am not Face Face. Face Fat. Book

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Create. I Dream. I Believe.

That is a good question…………………………………………………………..?

We have ink on our faces.

TRINITY. LOVE THE CHURCH.

It is good to be a Christian. 

JOY. PRAYER. LOVE

South West Team. Soup.Fellowship

Welcome to Exeter. Plymouth. Falmouth. Bristol. Bath

3:16.8:1.2:20.5:1. Genesis. ADAM. CHRIST. APPLE. CROSS. FREE

Snapshot of Cross Culture.

My morning drink is Exodus with a sprinkle of Romans.()()(()()()()()()()()()()

Living for Jesus. Speaking for Jesus.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Houseparty. 3 Block. Seminar. Ear Plugs.

Diving into the Gospel. Team Days. CAKE!

Forum. Tents…with a splash of sunshine please?

Reforming the heart. EDWARDS. OWEN.

Jesus is beautiful.

 

Lets have beautiful feet. 

            Feet need to walk and share good news. 

                    Good news needs to be in our hearts. 

                              Our hearts need to know Christ. 

                                                       CHRIST IS ALL.

 /////////////????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/////////////

####RELAY. Run the Race. Drink the coffee. Open the bible.#####

 

iblog, iread, idream, iknownothing.

• Relationships. Tears. Goodbyes. New pages. Chapters unfold.
• Be creative.
• Don’t wear socks and sandals.
• Do Enjoy.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ALT, CTRL, DEL. 

ESC.

STANDBY until HE Returns.

+++++OUT OF CHEESE ERROR+++++

50 shades

I was on the train the other week and overheard a conversation from 3 older ladies (they were in their 40s/50s). One of them said in hushed tones “Have you read 50 shades?”, her eyes darting around the carriage and her cheeks flushed red. The other lady replied “Yeh I am reading it, the good bits are in chapter 8″. There were a few giggles at this point. The gentleman sitting opposite them had his eyes closed but his ears were twitching. The third one of the friends piped up and said “I would just go to chapter 8, why bother with all the rest of it?” There was more laughter after that and nervous shifting in their seats. I was rather amused. When I walk into Waterstones I can see this book has hit number 1 and its filling the shelves and flying off them quickly.

I have never read the book and I doubt I will, but it has been quite a hit and women are reading it. From the reviews I have read it has been likened to Twilight but with all the naughty bits left in, it’s also been described as “mummy porn”. Why should Christians be bothered? Well I think this book indicates something that we have known for a while but have been ignoring in our christian circles and in church, which is that women look at porn too. Even though this is in a book form and you have to read words, the words are meant to stimulate. My friend has written a great post on this and its something that I have been thinking about for a while but haven’t had the chance to write about it. She hits the nail on the head.

A Thorn on the Rose says this:

“In church culture it is assumed that men have issues with pornography and masturbation, there are seminars run about it, help and support groups and accountability publicised for men.

When addressing women in church, there is not the same approach. There is a tendency for leaders to not talk about women’s sexuality and problems we can have with our sexuality and expressing it. Who says that masturbation is limited to men? Who says that women don’t think about sex as much as the average male?”

She is right. In my 8 or so years as a Christian I have never heard an address to women about porn. It has always been to the men. I have never been to a “girl talk seminar” where we talk about porn, masturbation and sexuality. Instead we talk about gossip, relationships and comparing yourself. Which is all relevent, but it has left men thinking women don’t have a problem with this and it’s just a “man issue” and its left women thinking she can’t tell anyone about this because women don’t struggle with this.
Well they do. (It also brings up ideas that when a man and woman get married the man will enjoy sex a lot more than the woman, in fact the woman will not really like it at all, which isn’t always the case)

The truth is:

Women look at porn online. They read it to.
Women masturbate.
Women think about sex. Women enjoy sex too.

There is another brilliant blog post about how chic-lit isn’t porn for women, but porn is porn for women: here . To think that chic-flick like pride and prejudice and “You’ve got mail” is the same as porn then we must be reading/watching something very different! 50 shades of grey doesn’t sound like a chic flick but more on the side of porn. (again I haven’t read it, but from the reviews that’s what it sounds like). The Conversational Theology blog post says this great point:

“First, and I want to say this first because I really don’t think anyone else is saying it at all, chicklit and chick flicks are not pornography for women, pornography is pornography for women. There is a myth which the church seems to have bought into completely that women are not interested in pornography. That this sin is exclusively a male sin. Women are instructed not to listen when a preacher addresses the men in the church about this issue. For a long time, I believed this lie too. And then I discovered the internet.”

She says in another article that:

Women keeping their cyber activities secret 70%
Women struggling with pornography addiction 17%
Ratio of women to men favoring chat rooms 2X
Percentage of visitors to adult websites who are women 1 in 3 visitors
Women accessing adult websites each month 9.4 million
Women admitting to accessing pornography at work 13%
Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.

My hope is that we won’t ignore this anymore in our churches, in our christian circles, in ourselves. My hope is that some support will be provided for women, that there will be open conversations without judgement, that there will  be talks on it that are not just limited to men. There is a website that provides support. But we need to start talking about it in our communities.

As my friend says on A Thorn on a Rose:

“I believe that the changing of our culture in regards to women’s sexuality will force the church to also consider women’s sexuality, not only will churches provide ways of helping men with their problems but be able to openly talk to women and provide support for them as well.”

I hope so.

I would be interested to know if there has been any open talk about this in your church/communities? Is it a taboo subject?

A New Name

I can’t wait for this book by Emma Scrivener.

Her husband Glen says this about the book:

This book is not just for sufferers and those who care for them – although it will be vitally helpful for them.  It’s a testimony to Jesus.  It’s a meditation on the gospel and how it addresses a deadly mental illness, so emblematic of our culture’s struggles with food, body, performance and identity.  It’s one of the most compelling and vivid accounts you’ll ever read of the lies that can enslave a person and how the truth sets them free.

Here is the excellent promo: