God 52 – Week Twenty-one (21/5/2013)

This is 2 Unlimited, singing their 1993 hit ‘No Limit.’ I’m sure it’s obvious why.

We tricked you. Last week’s challenge is far from over.

This week, we’re going to be moving into the second part of what will be a multi-part exploration of the Spiritual Discipline of Study. Last week you chose a book of the Bible to read all the way through (didn’t you? No? Quick, go back and do that now).

This week, you’re going to focus down on a single chapter:

21: Pick a chapter from the book you read last week, and read that chapter every day

That’s right. Read the same chapter, every day this week. It shouldn’t take a huge effort of the will – just put aside a little time each day to read the chapter. This is the first element of the discipline of Study: repetition. Think of it like going to the spiritual gym and doing some ‘reps’.

We’re not asking you to do anything more than this – although next week, things will get a little more complicated. For now, just read a chapter,

Then read it again the next day,

and again the next,

and again,

and again,

and again,

and again.

Easy enough, right?

God 52 – Week Twenty (14/5/2013)

It’s a busy week here at God52 towers. If you’re unsure why, go here and book tickets. Right, that’s the advert over. Anyway, as it’s busy we figured we’d set a challenge that was easy, and wouldn’t take up too much time.

NAAAAAAAAAAAAT. (I’m bringing back that classic 90s gag of saying something, and then shouting NOT afterwards. I’ve no idea why that stopped being popular.)

So this week’s challenge, some of you will find this super easy, others, and especially if you’re like me, will find it more of a stretch. I’m rubbish at reading my Bible, I need both a daily app and an alarm on my phone telling me to do it, and over time they become easy to ignore, but I push myself. I have to, because I know it’s important, I know it’s life changing. And I know that once I get into the rhythm of reading it regularly, the easier and more life affirming it becomes. So…

20: Read an entire book of the Bible during this week.

You could read Psalms or Philemon, John or 3 John, it’s up to you. Just take a chunk of time this week to let God’s word speak to you.

We’re always on the look out for guest bloggers. If you’d like to write a guest post this week on friendliness, please read our writing guidelines, then drop us
an email.

 

Smiling: a basic social skill, by Lynn McCann

Writing in response to this week’s friendliness challenge, Lynn McCann asks: what’s in a smile?

I must admit that this week’s God52 challenge made me smile… well that’s what we’re being asked to do!

I work with children who have autism.  It is a social disability.  Some of them have missed out on the early development of social skills that most of us take for granted.  Therefore I spend a lot of time assessing children’s social skill ability and putting teaching programmes in place that teach the basic social skills step by step.  Children without autism learn these things naturally through interaction with their parents, carers and other children.

So what is in a smile?

We usually begin by giving eye contact, our facial muscles form the smile and we pause long enough to wait for a reaction by the other person. If we are feeling confident we might add a greeting. We then pause ever-so-briefly again to wait for a reply.  If all goes well you and the other person can then comfortably move on or start an extended interaction that might develop into full-blown conversation.

What has happened is a two-way communication. Maybe it is something you take for granted and that comes very naturally to you. Maybe you feel a little awkward but can make yourself do it if you think about it. Maybe you’ve just got out of the habit.

What we as humans receive from a smile is a message that says, “I acknowledge you. I am taking my focus away from myself for a moment and giving my attention to you. You have significance and I am showing pleasure in connecting with you.”

However brief this may be, the person on the receiving end can be built up, drawn out of loneliness or sadness. They may smile back, and that can release endorphins in the brain that lifts a mood. A smile can be quite powerful.

One of the joys of my work is receiving a smile from a child with autism that is purposely directed at me. It may be in response to something I’ve given them, something we did together or even better, in response to seeing me. It makes my heart sing.

When we smile at others we are sharing a reflection of our heavenly Father. God smiles down on his people because Jesus has dealt with all our sins and now we can enter into a wonderful relationship with him.  If we want others to know how much God loves them…then a smile can reflect his thoughts, open hearts and lead to great communication.

Lynn McCann is a wife, mum to two teenagers, and an ASD teacher who loves Jesus with all her heart. She blogs at http://includedbygrace.wordpress.com about faith, life, and sharing the gospel with people with learning disabilties and ASD.

God 52 – Week Nineteen (7/4/13)

This week’s challenge is – on the face of it – one of the easiest and most straightforward so far. But since I’ve already embarked on it (you could say I’ve been beta testing), let me tell you: it really isn’t. Or at least, it really isn’t for a sour old curmudgeon like me.

Here it is – a challenge all about friendliness and kindness (two marvelous virtues, right?):

19: Say ‘Good Morning’ to as many people as you can, every morning for a week.

It’s so simple, it almost feels like we’re cheating you. All you have to do is evade the natural predisposition to adopt the thousand-yard-stare as you pass strangers on the street. Instead, you just have to smile and greet them.

It’s tragic, isn’t it, that this is so radically counter-cultural for some of us? In some parts of the UK, where I live, we simply don’t do this anymore. In fact, some people think you’re a bit weird if you do. But as some tiny first step towards improving the sense of community where you live, why not buck the trend for a week?

Say good morning. Smile. Heaven forbid, you might even start a conversation. I’ve tried it – it’s not easy (at least for me). But it could be so important in reducing that person’s sense of isolation, fear or despair. You simply have no idea what God might do through two simple words…

It’s morning soon. Are you up for the challenge?

We’re always on the look out for guest bloggers. If you’d like to write a guest post this week on friendliness, please read our writing guidelines, then drop me an email.

God 52 – Week Eighteen (30/4/13)

You may remember Martin’s apology from last week’s challenge. Well I’ve managed to outdo him on the tardiness front and I can only offer massively apologies, aside from everything else we’ve been trying to finish a magazine this week. (On a side note it’s easily the most spectacular issue of Youthwork that I’ve been involved with.)

But anyway, I was thinking about this week’s challenge/beating myself up for doing it late/trying to get it done quickly enough so that Mart wouldn’t remove me from being an admin when I just felt that I needed to stop. Not for long, not quit, not give up on the stuff God has given me to do, but just to stop for a bit.

So that’s this week’s challenge.

18: Stop and take some time to yourself.

I could bang on about this for a bit, it’s a Biblical principle, the Sabbath was so important that it was one of the Ten Commandments. But more than anything, it’s practical. You’re all busy. We’re all busy. You can tell by the times we’ve been posting these. And it seems like a decent chunk of the people on board the God52 gravy train are youth workers. People who spend their whole time giving, giving, giving. WELL STOP IT. This week carve some time out to do something that feeds you. I’m going to watch the final of Masterchef and go to Norwich to watch Aston Villa play. I’ll sing, I’ll (hopefully) celebrate, I’ll relax and be with friends, all in the knowledge that God has created me to live this life.

Glorious right?

AND NO. We don’t want your guest blogs this week. Less writing, more stopping.

The problem of consistency, by Ryan Cartwright

A second guest blog on this week’s challenge subject – praying consistently – from web developer and cartoonist (hence the avatar) Ryan Cartwright.

I was once told that sport is about consistency. Apparently to achieve greatness at a sport you need more than talent, you need to produce that talent time after time. My dictionary says consistency is “Reliability of successive results or events” and here is my problem with consistency when applied to prayer. If consistency is about achievement, if consistency is measuring results against each other then how can it apply to prayer? What is an achievement or result in prayer? How do we measure prayer and therefore how can prayer be consistent?

As it happens, my prayer life is consistent. It’s a consistent struggle, it always has been and I have come to terms with the fact that it always be. I’ve done the snoring-at-the-sunrise quiet time, I’ve read the books, tried the plans and my personal prayer-life remains like an engine that needs new spark plugs: it refuses to start. Through all this, that scripture has nagged at me: “Pray without ceasing”. I’ve always known it didn’t mean every sentence I said needed to end with “Amen” but still felt the pressure to pray every day. I often feel there’s too much emphasis on prayer. We make it sound like everything God does depends on something we usually forget to do.

The truth is we can’t measure prayer anymore than we can define what makes a good tune and of course God doesn’t depend on prayer: he cares that we do it but it is we who have made it a necessity. If we free prayer from the shackles of duty and measurement we are free to pray. Realising this changed my life. I am able to tell people I will pray for them without feeling guilty for a start. That’s because I am no longer promising a stream of regular incantations but offering to remember them to God. I find I best do this by bringing God into my thoughts when I suddenly remember them. This can happen at any time of day, at the traffic lights, in the bath, walking the dog, watching a movie. Yes I try (and fail) to spend dedicated time with God most days but I no longer put such an emphasis on it because I know I can stay in touch with him through the day. Funnily enough I realised recently that this is something I can be consistent at.

Ryan Cartwright is a web developer and cartoonist who has been blogging since before the term was invented. A Father of two and youth worker based in Essex, he has a passion for freedom and a weakness for Haribo. You can find him at http://www.crimperman.org and @crimperman

Carefully and Thoughfully Attentive, by Tim Bechervaise

Writing in response to this week’s challenge, this guest blogger reflects on the struggle and the joy of regular, disciplined prayer.

Ever since I became a Christian, the discipline of prayer, particularly in the morning, has been encouraged by my church, the example of my parents and, of course, Jesus (Mark 1:35). Initially, seeing it as boring and simply another ‘religious’ exercise, I was a reluctant follower, but gradually I have come to treasure the 10-15 minutes I spend praying each morning – sometimes a little wearily. Normally I wake-up and proceed to have a shower, get changed and eat breakfast with a myriad of anxious, rushed and tired thoughts – ‘Oh no, I need to do that today / How will I get everything done?’ But at that moment of stillness, I have come to realise that Jesus sits with me, not only hearing my requests, but also prompting me to hear from Him through the Bible or directing my prayers in a way that my focus turns from me and onto Him.

As time wears on, however, I have found it easy to get lost in the demands of the day, to the extent that I sometimes forget about the prayers offered and thus lose an appreciation of how God has answered them.

So, at the end of each day, I am now attempting to sit on my bed for a few minutes (I used to pray lying down in bed, but too often I never finished my prayers, something which I am sure God smiles at) and recall those early morning prayers. And what’s amazing is the way I realise the way in which God has been so carefully and thoughtfully attentive to the cries of my heart.

I prayed God would open my eyes to the needs of others. I now recall bumping into the same person three times today. Perhaps God wants me to pray for/reach out to them in some way.

I prayed God would help me have a hospitable attitude. I now recall a few people came and spoke to me whilst I was working. Perhaps God is prompting me to be hospitable when I least expect or want to.

I prayed God would make me aware of His love for me. I now recall the quiet walk I enjoyed earlier in the sun and the coffee my colleague bought me. Perhaps God was showing His love for me, not through grand gestures, but in life’s small details.

Whilst I understand that some answers to prayer aren’t always as straightforward, reflecting on the answers I can see reminds me that each day has been held together by Jesus, who was carefully and thoughtfully attentive to the cries of my heart. And for that, I am very thankful.

The discipline can be hard, but catching a glimpse of its effect in my life each night inspires me to begin the next day in prayer.

Tim Bechervaise is 26 years old, works in the finance industry and heads up his local church’s 18-30s group. He is passionate about coffee, doughnuts and Spurs. He is even more passionate about Jesus. He tweets at @TimmyBech. 

God 52 – Week Seventeen (23/4/13)

First of all, an apology – things are a little flat out for me at the moment, and I’m really aware that I’m writing this about 30 hours than a lot of people expected it. Sorry. I’ll try not to let this happen again.

Discipline. It’s not a very nice word, is it? If you’re subject to it, then there’s likely to be some degree of pain or discomfort to you as a result; if you’re required to practice it, then you’re likely to be attempting something counter-cultural.

Because of course, we live in a world of short-cuts, short attention spans, and short tempers. We pace in front of the microwave; we get frustrated if BBC iPlayer takes too long to load. And in that cultural context, it’s sometimes hard to behave consistently. To return to the same behaviour, day after day, because doing so is good for us. It’s much more intuitive for us to flit around, to jump from one activity to the next, to follow distractions and pursue whatever interests us.

So regular, disciplined prayer is perhaps a different proposition in the age of distraction. In simpler times, with less things and individuals competing 24/7 for our attention, it was arguably easier to set aside regular time to pray and reflect (or maybe it was just difficult for other reasons). To do so today requires discipline; an effort of the will. So here’s this week’s challenge:

17: Pray for 15 minutes a day, at the same time for five days.

It’s a little exercise in discipline and consistency – but it also might yield some exciting results. This idea has slightly been stolen from Jackie Pullinger – and look what she’s achieved!

Pray about whatever you like, although I’d suggest you make it the same topic or situation.

We’re always on the look out for guest bloggers. If you’d like to write a guest post this week on disciplined prayer, please read our writing guidelines, then drop me an email.

The two scariest words, by Lauren Wade

Youth work intern Lauren responds to this week’s challenge to love our communities by addressing the two words she finds most challenging…

“Good morning.”

They don’t sound that scary.

In fact, exchanging ‘good mornings’ with my family, friends and co workers often puts me in the best of moods when I start my day!

Yet saying good morning to a perfect stranger feels impossible. Especially when you go bright red whenever you talk to someone you don’t know.

Ever since starting full time work at my church in Eastleigh, I have found I have spent very little time in my local community in the sense of where I live. My home is six miles from work, and most of the time I spend walking through my local area is to catch the train to and from work. Even though sometimes I pray silently for the area on my way through, I was challenged this week to do something tangible to show the love I have for my local community.

I always feel challenged that as Christians we should always show love to the people around us but recently I feel there’s more to it than that. In Luke 6, Jesus challenges us not just to show love to those who already love us but to love those who hate us and who curse us. While I may not be persecuted for greeting a perfect stranger at 9 in the morning, there’s something about showing love first without expecting anything back.

So there we have it. Me attempting to pluck up the courage to simply smile or say ‘good morning’ to people that pass me on my way to work. I have had the courage a few times – followed by some puzzled looks, smiles… or even ‘good mornings’ back!

Lauren Wade is currently working during her gap year with the youth worker at Eastleigh Baptist Church.

Just open the door, by Robin Peake

This week’s God52 challenge is all about loving your community. But if you’re finding it too hard, charity worker Robin Peake has discovered a way to cheat…

Do you want to know how to cheat on this challenge?

Nicky and Nancy are a unique couple with whom my wife and I struck up a friendship through our local church. Now in their 50s, they met on a Monday and got married on the Friday almost 24 years ago.

We love them, and their lives are absolute chaos sometimes.

They knocked on our door one time to ask to borrow some money as they’d run out and were waiting for another payment to come through.

We asked how much they needed and gave them £90 or whatever it was.

When they got money at the start of the next month, they paid us back without prompting. But by the end of the month they’d run out again and asked to borrow some more.

This went on for five or six months. They were happy to need to borrow less and less without being at the mercy of payday lenders; we were happy to be presented with a need that we could meet that was costing us nothing.

It was a way to show God’s love in our local area.

But we didn’t find it.

It knocked on our door.

Here’s what I think.

Build relationships with people in your community.

Then you’ll find out what their needs are.

Then you’ll know the ways to show God’s love in ways that will meet their needs.

No more finding, just opening the door or answering the phone.

And who said cheating wasn’t fun.

Robin Peake loves seeing lives change through local mission. He volunteers with Thrive (www.thriveteam.wordpress.com) and tweets as @robin_peake