January 2010

Count Your Blessings

Uncategorized / By

Count your blessings 2010

A life-changing experience for Lent

Make Lent meaningful this year. Instead of giving up wine or chocolate, join Christian Aid in looking again at the good things in your life
– and change the lives of others living in poverty across the world at the same time.

There are lots of practical ideas contained in a little downloadable calendar that you can put on your fridge.Each day has some information about living in developing countries, contrasts details with our lives in the UK and invites you to set aside a small amount of money towards those who need it most.
The prayer that accompanies it is –

Loving Father
Often we forget your gifts to us,
letting them pass unnoticed
through each day.
Show us how to look again,
to see through your eyes
and give freely in response to what
we see.
And often we forget those who
struggle –
those whose greatest need
is lost among our riches.
Help us to look again,
to see through your eyes.
You gave so freely. Help us freely give.
Amen

You can also sign up for emails to help you keep Lent’s
journey in mind – they will send you
meditations, reflections and powerful
stories. Visit www.christianaid.org.uk/lent
A children’s version of Count Your Blessings,
resources for church worship and small
study groups and more copies of this
calendar are also available online.

Here are samples of the first few days –
Thursday 18
Wasted food costs the average family £420 a year.
Give 42p for each type of food you binned this week.>br>
Friday 19
In 2008 the price of basic foods such as rice, oil and sugar
increased by 50%,placing even greater pressure on poor families.
Give 20p for every packet or bottle of rice, oil or sugar
you own.
Weekend 20 & 21
‘We had 13 children,but four of them died.’
What Leandro wants more than anything is to keep his children healthy. 80% of his family’s diet is potato. Chronic malnutrition and infant mortality are huge problems
in Bolivia. Christian Aid is helping to fund seeds, tools and training so families there can build greenhouses and grow
vegetables to eat and sell.

Could you hold a Super Soup Lunch on 26 March? Visit
www.christianaid.org.uk/super-souplunch

Monday 22
The International Labour Organisation estimates that 200 million more workers will fall into extreme poverty as
a result of the global recession. Almost half live in south Asia.
Give 10p for every £1,000 you earned last year.

Tuesday 23
One in six children worldwide is involved in child labour, which harms their mental, physical or emotional development.
Give 10p for every year of your childhood you were
free to play in your spare time.

Put this link into your browser – http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved/lent/count-your-blessings-resources.aspxe

Count Your Blessings Read More »

Avatar A Film Review

Inspiration, Uncategorized / By

Warning: this review contains a ‘spoiler’ in other words reading it might tell you something about the end of the film but as the end of the film was about as predictable as the credits there isn’t much to spoil!

Okay I admit it! Whenever a film comes out with loads of hype it makes me hyper-critical so the following review maybe somewhat more savage than you feel the film deserved but I went along expecting to be impressed and was underwhelmed by everything except the graphics.

Visually the 3D effect combined with stunning animation (or whatever technical term they give it these days) was amazing as was the imagination of those who created the alternative world of Pandora (shame they couldn’t come up with a more original name for the place). It was all breath-taking, beautiful, awesome and you did feel like you were right inside the scene but after about an hour of ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ I would have expected the plot to take over my interest. Like James Cameron’s last blockbuster (Titanic) this was a long film.

The characters were 2D personalities, the plot was clichéd and the message was shallow. Yes, it was full of pseudo Christian metaphors or illustrations which even now I see being used in many an all age service. There was the ‘incarnation’ of the main character Jake. He becomes one of the Navi and sort of saves them albeit in a rather blundering way. However his original intention was to undermine their society from within and it seems to take an extraordinarily long time for it to dawn on him that this might not be the ethically thing to do, so not a great role model for a Saviour. There was also a ‘confirmation’ (in the way Anglicans understand the word confirmation) scene when all members of The People confirm Jake’s being one of them. There was even a reference to their belief that everyone must be born twice before they are part of the community. All of this sounds vaguely Christian, after all being ‘born again’ was a concept first proposed by Jesus. But the whole thing left me feeling that bits and pieces of my beliefs had been hi-jacked and woven into a very New Age story, the central message of which was ‘don’t’ worry, Mother Nature will protect us’. A female nature based deity will rise up to save us from our insanity, greed and self-destruction. She will do this by redressing the balance (balance between energies being a very Eastern idea).

As a message all this is nonsense: what are we expecting? That an army of dolphins will rise out the oceans to stop us destroying the rainforests? Or perhaps it will be a Blue Whale like in one of the Star Trek films? Such a solution neatly lets us off the hook. No need to take responsibility if Mother Nature will sort it all out for us in the end!

Now I know it’s only a story and you probably think I’m taking it far too seriously but our global issues are huge and all this film offered were bland generalisations such as ‘all of life is inter-related’ and ‘we ought to treat others with respect’. And these are simply not robust enough for the problems we are facing. The world really does need The Saviour, the one who came not to subvert but to save us. Rather than simply being glad that a film is making a metaphorical allusion to the incarnation, those of us who believe it need to stand up and say ‘The Saviour has come’. He wasn’t a ‘gung-ho’ warrior, he was a self-sacrificing example. And, the whole earth isn’t going to get better by itself because ‘the whole earth groans’ awaiting the full coming of God’s kingdom (Romans 8). Those of us who pray ‘Your Kingdom Come’ had better mean it because we are meant to be part of its coming.

Two other points which you may consider petty: I think it’s a bit rich that Hollywood should put out a film about not snatching land from indigenous people. They seem to miss the irony of the fact that their nation was doing that very thing only a little more than a hundred years ago. Secondly, all the good people in the film were slim and lithe and incredibly athletic. I know this is because they spent all day swinging from tree to tree but it saddens me that the ‘aspirational’ characters all conform to ‘perfect physique’ – perfect that is apart from having blue skin and tail! You saw a lot of female flesh but never anything more than a double A cup, what message does this send out to your average size 14 teenager?

There was one scene I liked! Hoorah! I liked it at the end when the main character gets his new body. This was so strongly reminiscent of the Christian hope of Resurrection with the ‘perishable body’ dying and the soul filling up a new, stronger, resurrected body (1 Corinthians 15) that I couldn’t help be moved. What the heck, I might even use it in an All age Service!

Avatar A Film Review Read More »

A Passion for Life – A National Outreach Initiative

Uncategorized / By

‘A Passion for Life’ is a nationwide initiative that is drawing together individuals and local evangelical churches to plan a variety of missional initiatives culminating in Easter 2010. The vision is to see see numerous people of all ages and backgrounds in the country reborn to glorify God.

It is about proclaiming Christ’s PASSION for the LIFE of the world in March 2010 through…

-connecting with people:making contact with unbelievers in local communities

-connecting with churches, partnering with evangelical churches for the sake of the gospel

-connecting with Easter, rediscovering the glorious message of Christ’s death and resurrection.

There are various ways of getting involved: you can register on the website as an individual or as a church and obtain a manual that looks full of practical examples of outreach that churches have tried and succeeded in.
www.apassionforlife.org.uk

A Passion for Life – A National Outreach Initiative Read More »

Ask Alison January 2010

Uncategorized / By

Why not make 2010 the one to fall in love again? So many marriages break down because couples believe they will only feel in love for the first few years, if that.

Can you remember Escape, more fondly known as The Pina Colada song by Rupert Holmes from the 80’s? It’s the story of a couple who have been together a long time and monotony has set in. He describes the relationship as ‘a worn out recording of a favourite song’. The guy reads an ad in the personal column for someone who likes pina colada, getting caught in the rain, isn’t into yoga and has half a brain, enjoys making love at midnight in the dune of the cape. And is followed by an invitation to meet and escape.

Sounds tantalisingly temping doesn’t it? The guy in the story definitely succumbs and arranges to meet the mystery woman. The twist in the story is that the mystery woman in no stranger at all. She is actually his wife! He didn’t know that she liked all those things and was tired of the same old same old too. Together they realise they both want to fall in love again, get rid of the old routine and spice up their relationship. They didn’t need someone else to do that with, they just needed to fall in love again and discover more about each other and what they dream of.

If you want to enjoy an intimate and exciting relationship this year, don’t be tempted to look in the personal columns. As a couple why not write your own personal ad and then swap them over. See how many refreshing ways you can rediscover the passion and excitement of your first love.

You never know, you might even find you both like pina colada!

Ask Alison January 2010 Read More »

Scroll to Top

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close