It really was the most delicious slice of treacle tart I think I have ever tasted. Just melt in the mouth stuff. Sitting at lunch with friends, swapping stories, including an amazing true one about a man, his son and his dog walking on water!
Ian (who heads up the technical team) and I were at Moggerhanger Park, a delightful, beautifully restored Georgian house in Bedfordshire. The house has connections with the Clapham Set, which included William Wilberforce - famous for bringing before Parliament the act to abolish slavery. We were there to talk about the possibility of staging the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical in the grounds and as a result, we were shown some of the exciting plans they have for the park, including an open air theatre. It looks like we could be part of a proposed camping weekend next summer: A sort of festival, maybe, when we shall be presenting the musical on the Saturday night of the August Bank Holiday weekend. We were shown around the grounds and in particular, admired the lovely walled garden, a possible site for our concert if the theatre isn't ready.
This meeting came off the back of an exciting weekend, when we presented the musical in Loughton, Essex, to some 360 people in a school hall. About 25% of the audience were not Christians and there were also some 50 Jewish people too. Some Jewish people even sang in the choir with us. It was a wonderful, uplifting evening. I met David Winter of Revelation TV, so it looks as if there might be an opening there, as I have to write to him in the next few days.
And so on to Herstmonceux where, on June 4th, we shall be presenting the musical in the heart of the beautiful Sussex countryside. But I shall miss that amazing tart and so will have to patient and wait until next summer for some more!
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Friday, 6 May 2011
The Only Way is Essex
The M25 is a wonderful motorway when it works. It's the victim of its own success: If I had a pound for every time I've travelled it I would be a rich man. It's a gateway to the west and the north; nearly every long journey involves this motorway. The beauty of England and Wales opens up from this starting point.
I remember the first time I travelled it alone: It was the occasion of my father's death. I hadn't long passed my test and with some trepidation I set out for Essex on a late, cold evening in December, when the mists seem to hug the motorway as I drove through the night. That was my introduction. Twenty-five years and many musicals later, we take the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical to Loughton in Essex.
An awful lot has happened in the world since that first lonely journey, but the message of the hope of the Gospel remains intact. And that gives a strong sense of perspective. My father and mother have been prayed into glory; that's the best gift I could pray for them. They both made late decisions, but they're there! As I write this, I am listening to John Rutter's version of the spiritual 'Deep River' which includes the words:
"Deep river my, home is over Jordan,
O don't you want to go to that Gospel Feast,
That promised land where all is peace."
Many times I've crossed the Dartford Crossing into Essex, the county that I grew up in. And though many of the 'old familiar faces', as the poem says, have passed on, there burns in my heart a desire to share the hope of the Gospel. That we will do on May 14th when we present the musical together with Jewish and Messianic singers, having crossed over the 'deep river' of the Thames.
I remember the first time I travelled it alone: It was the occasion of my father's death. I hadn't long passed my test and with some trepidation I set out for Essex on a late, cold evening in December, when the mists seem to hug the motorway as I drove through the night. That was my introduction. Twenty-five years and many musicals later, we take the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical to Loughton in Essex.
An awful lot has happened in the world since that first lonely journey, but the message of the hope of the Gospel remains intact. And that gives a strong sense of perspective. My father and mother have been prayed into glory; that's the best gift I could pray for them. They both made late decisions, but they're there! As I write this, I am listening to John Rutter's version of the spiritual 'Deep River' which includes the words:
"Deep river my, home is over Jordan,
O don't you want to go to that Gospel Feast,
That promised land where all is peace."
Many times I've crossed the Dartford Crossing into Essex, the county that I grew up in. And though many of the 'old familiar faces', as the poem says, have passed on, there burns in my heart a desire to share the hope of the Gospel. That we will do on May 14th when we present the musical together with Jewish and Messianic singers, having crossed over the 'deep river' of the Thames.
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Flying on Cloud 9
I remember it distinctly: Flying in the jump seat, situated just behind the pilots in the cockpit of a Ryanair 737, inbound for Dublin at night. Those were the days, before 9/11, when if you had the right contacts, you could ride in the cockpit. So here I was, on the second trip of the day to Dublin. The previous flight had been in daylight, but this was an instrument job; flying blind, as it were, through cloud with only the instruments to navigate by. Curiously, I noticed the aircraft seemed to be surround by a winking pinkish light, which confused me until I realised it was the reflection of the orange and red navigation lights bouncing off the clouds. It was an eerie experience. Suddenly, we came out of clouds and there before us, some five miles away, was the bright white ribbon of the runway lights. In no time we were safely down.
The following week I rode in the cockpit again, this time to Pisa. We landed at night, running in over the sea, no sign of the leaning tower. I got out of the plane, walked around it twice to stretch my legs and got back on. That was my trip to Pisa!
I understand from a pilot friend of mine that if you fly through clouds in a light plane and rely on your feelings as to your orientation, it is possible to come out of the clouds upside down! We all go through 'clouds' in our lives. Flying blind as it were, relying solely on the instrument panel of God's Word: His promises. I feel like that at the moment. Flying through cloud, unaware of quite where I am going. I think the psalmist felt like that quite a few times. In fact his feelings are there for us all to be encouraged by. 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?' is his cry.
I remember once flying over the Lake District. We turned over the magnificent screes of Wastwater and then the pilot announced: "I'm lost"! You see, when you're up at 3000 feet, all the Lakes disappear into the valleys and all you can see are the mountain tops and the many ridges. "Find me a Lake" I said "and we'll navigate from there." We found Windermere. I directed him north over Grasmere, Thirlmere and Derwentwater and then we turned north-east to Carlisle airport. We landed safely: A little knowledge goes a long way!
Sometimes in life, we fly blind for a while. Then God brings us out of the cloud, showing us that He was there with us all the time.
The following week I rode in the cockpit again, this time to Pisa. We landed at night, running in over the sea, no sign of the leaning tower. I got out of the plane, walked around it twice to stretch my legs and got back on. That was my trip to Pisa!
I understand from a pilot friend of mine that if you fly through clouds in a light plane and rely on your feelings as to your orientation, it is possible to come out of the clouds upside down! We all go through 'clouds' in our lives. Flying blind as it were, relying solely on the instrument panel of God's Word: His promises. I feel like that at the moment. Flying through cloud, unaware of quite where I am going. I think the psalmist felt like that quite a few times. In fact his feelings are there for us all to be encouraged by. 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?' is his cry.
I remember once flying over the Lake District. We turned over the magnificent screes of Wastwater and then the pilot announced: "I'm lost"! You see, when you're up at 3000 feet, all the Lakes disappear into the valleys and all you can see are the mountain tops and the many ridges. "Find me a Lake" I said "and we'll navigate from there." We found Windermere. I directed him north over Grasmere, Thirlmere and Derwentwater and then we turned north-east to Carlisle airport. We landed safely: A little knowledge goes a long way!
Sometimes in life, we fly blind for a while. Then God brings us out of the cloud, showing us that He was there with us all the time.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Another Seismic Shift
We have all watched with horror the events that have unfolded in Japan. The sheer scale of the devastation, the power of nature and the incalculable suffering as a result, is beyond our experience. Watching ships, carrying people, just being turned into matchwood in a few seconds and watching a dark tide engulf whole areas, is something that we have never seen before, since 2004 when the word tsunami first entered the common language. The power of nature seems wholly indiscriminate and unstoppable. The phrase 'seismic shift' takes on a whole new meaning when we see its outworking so dramatically and tragically.
But it occurred to me a few moments before beginning to write this blog, that there is another seismic shift taking place: One that will have dire consequences in the days to come. We are seeing a shift away from Christian values and, like that invidious wall of water that invaded, so ruthlessly, large areas of the east coast of Japan, its steady progress will see the erosion of many of the values that have anchored Western civilization. In the courts and in the media we are seeing a growing number of cases of Christians being vilified, prosecuted and disciplined, in a way that only a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable. There is a different kind of earthquake taking place in the West. It is extending over a longer period of time; there is no Richter scale to measure its force; yet it will bring about the fall of Western civilization as we know it.
Recently I watched the historian David Starkey speaking on television. I disagree with a lot of what he says, but I defend his right to have an opinion. He said this: "We are seeing the appearance of a new form of tyranny. An intolerance every bit as powerful as that which it seeks to replace." He is right. So-called tolerance has an invidious and prejudiced flipside and what we have been told would be the benefits of multiculturalism, has turned people who hold Christian beliefs into intolerant criminals. Moral and social confusion is following in its wake and the 1984 Orwellian thought police are on the trail of anyone who holds beliefs contrary to what society in general holds. It is a new form of inquisition and the tsunami is growing taller and more powerful. We have been warned, in God's Word, by Jesus Himself, that these days would come.
But it occurred to me a few moments before beginning to write this blog, that there is another seismic shift taking place: One that will have dire consequences in the days to come. We are seeing a shift away from Christian values and, like that invidious wall of water that invaded, so ruthlessly, large areas of the east coast of Japan, its steady progress will see the erosion of many of the values that have anchored Western civilization. In the courts and in the media we are seeing a growing number of cases of Christians being vilified, prosecuted and disciplined, in a way that only a few years ago would have seemed unthinkable. There is a different kind of earthquake taking place in the West. It is extending over a longer period of time; there is no Richter scale to measure its force; yet it will bring about the fall of Western civilization as we know it.
Recently I watched the historian David Starkey speaking on television. I disagree with a lot of what he says, but I defend his right to have an opinion. He said this: "We are seeing the appearance of a new form of tyranny. An intolerance every bit as powerful as that which it seeks to replace." He is right. So-called tolerance has an invidious and prejudiced flipside and what we have been told would be the benefits of multiculturalism, has turned people who hold Christian beliefs into intolerant criminals. Moral and social confusion is following in its wake and the 1984 Orwellian thought police are on the trail of anyone who holds beliefs contrary to what society in general holds. It is a new form of inquisition and the tsunami is growing taller and more powerful. We have been warned, in God's Word, by Jesus Himself, that these days would come.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Everyone Needs a Break (Brake?)
I can always remember the first and thankfully, only time it happened. Coming down a hill and putting my foot on the brake, only to find that the pedal went straight down on the floor. A quick change down the gears avoided disaster and, thankfully, the car in front was way in front! Then it was a case of nursing the car slowly home, anxiously pumping the pedal from time to time to get pressure. A car without brakes is a lethal machine. Apparently it was air bubbles in the fluid; the car had been serviced, but not well enough, it seems.
I thought of it rather as a metaphor for what we are trying to do in the Company: Getting people to put the brakes on, before they head for eternal disaster. Putting the brakes on the direction of their lives and heading in another direction. I suppose if I had the time and inclination, it would be an interesting study to see how many times I applied the brakes on a journey to central London. We do it instinctively of course - brake, I mean. It becomes second nature. We drive with the security of knowing that our brakes will work - until they don't, and then our whole mind set changes.
This weekend we spent time presenting the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical, urging people to 'put the brakes on.' Anyone living without Christ is living in a state of false security. They will only find out when the brakes don't work!
This blog was inspired, if that is the right word, by the experience of Ian, who heads up the technical team: Brake failure on a hired van carrying equipment back. It brought back memories! Perhaps that's one way of looking at the Gospel: Make sure your brakes are working!
I thought of it rather as a metaphor for what we are trying to do in the Company: Getting people to put the brakes on, before they head for eternal disaster. Putting the brakes on the direction of their lives and heading in another direction. I suppose if I had the time and inclination, it would be an interesting study to see how many times I applied the brakes on a journey to central London. We do it instinctively of course - brake, I mean. It becomes second nature. We drive with the security of knowing that our brakes will work - until they don't, and then our whole mind set changes.
This weekend we spent time presenting the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical, urging people to 'put the brakes on.' Anyone living without Christ is living in a state of false security. They will only find out when the brakes don't work!
This blog was inspired, if that is the right word, by the experience of Ian, who heads up the technical team: Brake failure on a hired van carrying equipment back. It brought back memories! Perhaps that's one way of looking at the Gospel: Make sure your brakes are working!
Friday, 11 February 2011
Lesson 12: 'How to Land Your Plane'
Recently I flew from San Fransisco airport, over the Golden Gate Bridge and the old prison of Alcatraz and, after 20 minutes, returned to the airport. If I said that I never left the ground, you would understand that I was flying a simulator. My family indulge me from time to time, with birthday and Christmas presents that are air related. Consequently, I have found myself in a helicopter over London, a microlight over the Thames estuary, in the open cockpit of a Tiger Moth and a memorable flight in a glider, having been air-towed to 2000 feet over the South Downs. The only thing I've never done is a balloon flight, which doesn't really appeal to me - too slow.
I love the whole experience of flying and, to add to the aforementioned experiences, I have also found myself on the flight deck of a RAF VC10, watching 12 jets refuelling: It was like watching an aerial ballet. I also had the privilege of flying in the cockpit of a 737 twice, to Dublin and the following week flying down to Pisa. I particularly remember the sight of the full moon on the Alps. Add to this my various excursions into Vulcan, Hercules, Shackelton and Buccaneer cockpits and you can see I am a real air 'saddo'. Which brings me to the point of this blog.
Apparently, it is possible to learn to fly by correspondence course. However, the story is told of one company involved in this who sent out, stage by stage, the course manuals. But they failed to send the final manual entitled: 'How to Land Your Plane'. Just think of the consequences! I used that story as part of the programme notes for a musical called 'Heaven'which we presented some 11 years ago. I based the musical on an airport where there were only two destinations, Heaven and Hell. There were no incoming flights!
Recently I listened to a tremendously inspiring sermon by my preacher hero, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, entitled 'How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?' So how many people are there out there flying the plane of their life, unable to land? I hope I haven't stretched the metaphor too far.
We are looking forward to preaching the Gospel again this Spring, through the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical, telling people the right place to land!
I love the whole experience of flying and, to add to the aforementioned experiences, I have also found myself on the flight deck of a RAF VC10, watching 12 jets refuelling: It was like watching an aerial ballet. I also had the privilege of flying in the cockpit of a 737 twice, to Dublin and the following week flying down to Pisa. I particularly remember the sight of the full moon on the Alps. Add to this my various excursions into Vulcan, Hercules, Shackelton and Buccaneer cockpits and you can see I am a real air 'saddo'. Which brings me to the point of this blog.
Apparently, it is possible to learn to fly by correspondence course. However, the story is told of one company involved in this who sent out, stage by stage, the course manuals. But they failed to send the final manual entitled: 'How to Land Your Plane'. Just think of the consequences! I used that story as part of the programme notes for a musical called 'Heaven'which we presented some 11 years ago. I based the musical on an airport where there were only two destinations, Heaven and Hell. There were no incoming flights!
Recently I listened to a tremendously inspiring sermon by my preacher hero, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, entitled 'How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?' So how many people are there out there flying the plane of their life, unable to land? I hope I haven't stretched the metaphor too far.
We are looking forward to preaching the Gospel again this Spring, through the 'Yeshua Messiah!' musical, telling people the right place to land!
Friday, 31 December 2010
The Old Year Turns
One of my favourite poems is called: 'The Old Familiar Faces'. It speaks of those who have gone - those who we see now in our mind's eye, whose memories are kindled by our remembered affection. I write this as the old year turns and again we stand on the edge of a new year. The distance from our past increases; the space widens and we are ever moving on.
That is what is so inspiring about the Gospel, the Gospel that the Company will seek to share in the New Year. It never changes. Its claims upon us remain the same; the rewards do not deteriorate with the waiting. Hope is the fuel of our endeavours, an unchanging, fully redeeming and renewing hope that claims to take humanity from death to life, from darkness to light. This incorruptible prize of eternal life is the most magnificent gift we can offer to anyone.
The Company is called, commissioned and sent by the One who says: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”. What an amazing statement! The month of January was named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. There is work to be done, work for the Kingdom. And when we have finished we long to hear those words: “Well done, good and faithful servants”.
So as the year turns and the new unfolds, we seek in the strength He gives us, to carry out the commission we have been given. As a Company, “we are not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation”. Let us work while there is still light.
That is what is so inspiring about the Gospel, the Gospel that the Company will seek to share in the New Year. It never changes. Its claims upon us remain the same; the rewards do not deteriorate with the waiting. Hope is the fuel of our endeavours, an unchanging, fully redeeming and renewing hope that claims to take humanity from death to life, from darkness to light. This incorruptible prize of eternal life is the most magnificent gift we can offer to anyone.
The Company is called, commissioned and sent by the One who says: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”. What an amazing statement! The month of January was named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces, one looking back and one looking forward. There is work to be done, work for the Kingdom. And when we have finished we long to hear those words: “Well done, good and faithful servants”.
So as the year turns and the new unfolds, we seek in the strength He gives us, to carry out the commission we have been given. As a Company, “we are not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation”. Let us work while there is still light.
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