walk on

I have to confess that when I first met Jonathan and he told me he was a U2 fan, I groaned. “What do you like them for?” I asked. Jonathan politely told me that I didn’t appreciate good music! About three years into our marriage U2 released their Elevation album, and I was hooked! I’ve missed out on seeing them live twice; once in Vancouver where I was weeks away from giving birth to our daughter, and once at Twickenham in London – we had the tickets, but not the babysitters! Next time we get tickets I will go! I’m writing all of this simply to share some song lyrics with you which really speak to Jonathan and I. I think they are really apt for many of us who have been on a “different” kind of Christian journey over the past few years. You can watch the video on You Tube here as well if you want!

Walk On

And love
It’s not the easy thing
The only baggage
That you can bring
Not the easy thing
The only baggage
you can bring
Is all that you
can’t leave behind

And if the
darkness is to
keep us apart
And if the
daylight feels
like it’s a long
way off
And if your glass
heart should crack
Before the second
you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on
Walk on
What you got, they
can’t steal it
No they can’t even feel it

Walk on
Walk on
Stay safe tonight

You’re packing a
suitcase for a place
None of us has been
A place that has
to be believed
To be seen

You could have flown away
A singing bird
In an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom

Walk on
Walk on
What you got
You can’t deny it
Can’t sell it or buy it

Walk on
Walk on
You stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
You can only take so much

Walk on
Walk on

Home
Hard to know what it is
If you never had one

Home
I can’t say where it is
But I know I’m going

Home
That’s where the heart is

And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
You can only take so much
Walk on

Leave it behind
You’ve got to
leave it behind

All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break

All that you measure
All that you feel
All this you can
leave behind

All that you reason
All that you care

It’s only time
And I’ll never
fill up all my
mind

All that you sense
All that you scheme
All you dress up
And all that you see

All you create
All that you wreck
All that you hate

Remedy

 

I’m really loving the David Crowder Band’s recent release, Remedy.  There are a lot of really excellent tracks on it.  I’m also enjoying listening to lots of Christmas Carols at the moment too!  Only 32 days to go 😉

Never thought I’d say this ….

Today, whilst exercising, I was flicking through the TV channels so that I could watch something, and take my mind off how long each minute goes by when you are pushing your body!  I stumbled across a Christian TV channel which was playing worship songs.  I haven’t watched Christian TV in a long time because it either makes me cringe, or it makes me angry.  Today it was worth watching though!

As the worship music played they showed images of streams, sunsets, mountains and the like whilst showing scriptures.  This was good for me today.  I was able to worship God for a while whilst I exercised and read encouraging scripture as well such as “I am the bread of life.” “I will never leave or forsake you.” and so on.  After a while my son, who was in the same room as me, read one of the scriptures out, and then we had a wonderful God conversation.  I love having this types of conversation with my kids, they always make you realise that things do sink into their minds!

Today I was grateful for, and blessed by Christian television.  I guess in moving into new ways of doing church, we have the tendency to frown at more modern forms of expression, however we can find a blessing and God within some of them.

Agents of Future

Jonathan and I are lovin’ listening to Agents of Future’s music.  They are the band from The Bridge in Portland.  Their music is different from your normal worship music – quite rocky, and very “real”  Another bonus is that you can download their MP3’s for free, which is very generous of them.

How do we deal with Anger and persecution?

 

Why is there so much anger and hate in the world?  I’ve just been reading a post on Open Source Theology, which to be honest I wish I hadn’t read now.  It was a letter from the church in Turkey, I feel physically sick now, and wish the post had some sort of warning on it.  Hence I’ll give one – this is a very gruesome read, but if you want to read the post do go here.

There is so much persecution around the world, in the west we really have no idea.   Daily we read about tens – hundreds of people who have been killed in Iraq.  The people of Palestine are crying out for help, yet no one is there to help them.  Africans are dying of AIDS when there are plenty of drugs unavailable to them which could prolong their lives.  Many third world countries don’t even have an adequate water supply – a basic human right – even though there is more than enough money in the west to make this possible.  The slave trade is still rife.  Our national news consists of teenagers who have been shot or stabbed.  People around are world are suffering so much social injustice.

What can we do about this?  Do we try hard enough to try and change our world?  Why are there so many young extremists out there?  I feel so concerned for the state of the world, yet at the same time have little hope of it getting better.  How can the emerging/missional church impact on our international community in a way the church has not done so before?