Realm: a field or domain of activity or interest (Oxford Dictionary)

Realm is a descriptive word usually associated with Kings of Queens, or sometimes Presidents. Those of us that live in the British Commonwealth, formerly the British Empire, are with under the ‘realm’ of the Queen, our head of state. Historically, realms are defined politically – but there is one realm in particular which now exists on a global scale that the majority of people on this planet, almost 100% of the population of the Western world most likely, have access to, is the digital realm. The realm of the internet.

Vicky Beeching posted an excellent blog post today on the issue of how real this realm is, I read it with a twinge of irony, as I’d written this post a few weeks back and had been pondering when to post it – and given Vicky has started this discussion now seemed an appropriate time.

I want to examine the issue of the reality of the digital realm  - but I want to go further, and discuss how we find a healthy balance in our relationships in both the physical and digital realms, without making it an idol and letting it take the place of God – which, we have to acknowledge, is a big temptation, in the age of smartphones, i-pads and laptops, a time where we’re constantly online. (more…)

Earlier this week I posted a short blog post promoting a new book of Advent reflections I’ve contributed to. But even before beginning writing the blog, I felt an inner conflict. A conflict I’m sure many of the creatives reading – and many more of us – have experienced at some point or other.

A conflict between wanting to share something I’d helped create with people, in order to help bless them – because I genuinely believe the book can and will do that in so many ways – and my own pride and ego, which is desperately wanting people to read it and give me great responses to boost my confidence.

It’s a conflict between healthy ambition and selfish ambition.

A conflict between that part of me that wants to honour God with what I create and see it help others in their walk with Him, and my own ego which wants success for selfish reasons.

It’s also about my own insecurities – that I can’t quite believe that I have had even moderate success at something I love doing and might actually have a gift for, because some part of me just won’t accept that I can be successful, or that God might actually have made me for a purpose and that this might a pointer to what that might be.

Promoting something you’re a part of or have helped create feels a bit selfish, and not very Christian – and certainly, it’s very tempting, especially in the self-centered ‘i-culture’ we live in, to simply promote things for those reasons.

We all want to be loved, and something we often do is look for that in people, rather than simply embracing the unconditional love & grace of God, which doesn’t value us according to our achievements, but sees us in all our nakedness, all our fear, doubt and all our sin – as well as our achievement – and loves us anyway.

A love that would love the same if we lived our whole lives and achieved nothing and got it all wrong every single moment.  (more…)

Hi people! As many of you will know (some of whom because I met you there), I attended a conference a couple of weeks back on Christanity and social media. It followed an awards ceremony the previous day so the whole weekend was called ‘Christian New Media Awards & Conference 2011′, or more simply, CNMAC11. At the conference were several guest speakers from the Christian, digital and creative realms alike, speaking on many different issues around how we as Christians deal with the digital media, how it can impact our lives & culture and its power to change the world. There were seminars on how to navigate twitter, to write code for your blog, how to do handle self-promotion and balance that with being a Christian and pointing away from yourself, and about the importance of retaining a balance between interaction in the digital world and non-digtial world.

One thing that became crystal clear to me is that there no such thing as the ‘virtual’ and ‘real’ worlds, because the online space, the digital realm, is part of the real world – it’s just as real, although different, from physically interacting with someone – and that was abundantly clear by the number of ‘Twitter-friends’, who I’d only known online, that I met and felt like I’d known them for a long time.

There’s a lot to discuss coming from this conference and I have a lot more to share. But for now, I want to share with you a little audio recording I made whilst at the conference with Dr Bex Lewis of the Big Bible Project and #digidisciple (more on that in a future post!). There will be a link down the sidebar eventually but I wanted to share it with you here first, so listen (carefully, the beginning is a bit muffled!) and enjoy me talking about the conference!

Whilst away at Greenbelt two issues that raised their heads were the issue of sabbath and its role in my life, and also social networking and worship. I went to a good discussion between four prominent Christian tweeters including @vickybeeching and @drbexl, and just today I was involved in a debate on Twitter, ironically enough, started up by @vickybeeching, on the role of Twitter and social networking in church, and whether it’s appropriate or not to Tweet in church.

I think the issue of social networking and how we engage and use this tool in our worship, as it becomes an increasingly big part of our daily lives, is one that desperately needs addressing and discussion. As ever, I don’t think any of us has a final answer, it’s a discussion that will go on for years to come with good arguments on every side.

To me it opens out bigger questions – what do we mean by church? What do we mean when we use the word worship? How do we see God – and how would Jesus use Twitter? These are all very important questions, which we need to be reflecting, and pondering on, which aren’t all going to get answered in a short blog post here. But it’s important to engage with the discussion and be part of it, it’s one of those balancing acts of faith, and we need to be participating in it, not standing on the sidelines, so here’s a little look from my own perspective and a few thoughts. (more…)

I’ve now been back from Greenbelt for three or four days, and had sufficient time to digest what happened over that weekend and what God was doing. Greenbelt was the first time I’d really been away on my own. Although whilst I was there I was blessed to meet loads of people I knew completely randomly – thanks God for the divine coincidences that I prayed for! – I travelled and went through the whole experience on my own, very deliberately. I have to confess there was a slight fear in doing that for the first time, but more the kind of fear which I knew I had to embrace, rather than one I was really scared of.

I have to say as I went around the site and heard such amazing speakers as Brian McClaren, Rob Bell, Peter Rollins and Phyllis Tickle, and experienced the whole Ikon experience on the Saturday evening – which was without doubt the most edgy, creative and innovative worship/liturgical experience I have had – I saw and experienced a freedom in God I had not felt before. I felt alive in new and fresh ways and saw God moving in dynamic, creative and energetic ways which I’d not seen before. There was real discussion about issues that mattered without any fear, even between people that disagreed, there was a sense that we were all participating in this big discussion, a bigger movement that was going on, and this was merely a marker point in that.

At Greenbelt it felt like the shackles of religion and ‘the church’ were down – and in its place we had real community, real freedom and real honest and frank discussion concerning faith and how it relates to the world we live in, and how God is a reality in the world we live in right now, rather than something separate from it.

To me that is how faith should always be – church is important and what we believe is too, but it needs to be about a God who is part of the whole of creation and active, participating in it, and has set us free through death & resurrection, not an imposed set of rules and structures which hold us down.

That freedom is what I experienced at Greenbelt. (more…)

I’m off to Greenbelt tomorrow, for the first time. If you don’t know, Greenbelt is essentially a Christian arts festival held at Cheltenham race course over the August Bank Holiday in the UK. Greenbelt’s slogan is “Where arts, faith & justice collide” and the theme this year is ‘Dreams of Home’, which is sure to be interesting. At Greenbelt there is a strong focus on issues of social justice, creativity, art, social media, theology and as such there are seminars and discussions on varying themes relating to this.

This year there is an amazing line up, with speakers such as Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Peter Rollins and Brian McClaren. My former life coach, worship leader/blogger/writer Vicky Beeching, is going to be there too.

But it’s not just speakers from the Christian world that they have on the agenda, there’s also an appearance this year by the likes of Billy Bragg. Greenbelt are well known for always pushing the boudnaries, which is something I love – there is a freedom of expression in faith, an openess to finding God wherever you look for Him.

In conjunction with the speakers they have several music acts/bands, such as Kate Rusby playing, show films and also have space to reflect, pray and receive spiritual direction. They also have a pub on site called the ‘Jesus Arms’, which will be worth a visit I’m sure.

It’s going to be a great experience for me and the first time I’ve been away this year. I’ve been praying and reflecting a lot on what’s to come and asking God to really speak to me and challenge me, and to be honest I just can’t wait to get there. If you are going, I hope you have an amazing weekend, if not, I’d definitely recommend it to you.

If you are going however it would be great to connect, so let me know via my Twitter or Facebook, or just with a reply below, with contact details, and it would be great to get together & connect.

In the meantime, here’s a message from a brother in Christ who’s also going to be there:

In 1974 a Frenchman called Philippe Petit, with the help of a few friends, got into the South Tower of the recently built World Trade Centre in New York City. The got to the roof and put a metal wire between the two buildings, secured the wire, and then Petit himself set foot on the wire, and for 40 minutes walked between the two Twin Towers. During the course of his walk he lay down on the wire, did little pirouette jumps, looked down and sat down on the wire.

All at 1,368 ft. (417 metres) up.

Without a safety net.

In 2008 a documentary, ‘Man on a Wire’ was made about the feat, with interviews with Petit and his crew as well as his girlfriend at the time, combined with footage of the event itself and the planning and aftermath. Here’s a quick look at the trailer:

Amazing isn’t it? It’s an excellent documentary, which won several awards, including the Bafta for Outstanding British Film. Recommended viewing for all I would say.

I’m always blown away by the sheer achievement of it. One false move remember, one accident or slip up, and Petit was dead. He even says during the film, when he first stepped on the wire ‘Death was very close’.

Petit had extensive experience of these kind of walks and had prepared for six years in advance, to be ready.

He knew all he could know about what he had set himself to do. He had practiced and practiced, and was as ready as he could be.

But still, the first step onto the wire, at that height, with that level of risk – still, there were nerves.

Still he had to trust that all the preparation would work out. He had to trust the conditions, that there wouldn’t be unexpected distractions or big gusts of wind.

He still had to do the walk. And the walk wasn’t easy. It was a balancing act, and no margin for error. But it was what he felt he had to do, he was compelled – almost called – to do it. When asked afterwards why he’d done what he’d done, he simply said ‘There is no why’.

There are lots of challenges and metaphors we can take from this story. But the one I want to focus on, is the balancing act of walking this life with God. (more…)

As some of you know, I occasionally write blog posts for other sites. Not long ago I was asked to write a blog post for Christine Sine on the theme of ‘Worshipping God in the real world’. I was struggling as to what to write and it was about the time for me to write it, and then we had the riots, looting and violence in London and the rest of the UK last week.

As I prayed and reflected on those events God really spoke to me and it became very clear precisely what I had to share. It also became clear it wouldn’t be easy to share.

So I wrote the post anyhow, and sent it off, and today is published a blog post on Christine’s site entitled ‘Worshipping God in the reality of riots’. It’s one of the most uncomfortable and challenging posts I think I’ve ever written, and I would love you all to read it.

Christine and her husband Tom live in Christian community in Seattle and head up an organisation called ‘Mustard Seed Associates’, and I’ve met them and heard them speak a number of times, their blog is worth a read in its own right. I would recommend to you all that you add it to your blogroll, they have so much to teach us about what it means to live intentionally before God, and a lot to contribute to the ongoing discussion of what means to follow Jesus in the everyday.

Anyhow, my blog post is now up on their site and you can find the post here, go have a look and reflect on it – and let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear your responses…

I must admit I’m a bit of a fan of Apple technology. I’m not so addicted that I have to possess every new piece of equipment they create – I don’t own an i-pad for example – but I am a fan of their creations. I admire their simplicity, their creativity and sheer audacity, which is implicit in everything they do. They have such imagination and are often the innovators and trendsetters in their field, much like I’ve often advocated Christians need to be every field, which is a whole other blog post.

The truth though is that I can’t get my i-phone out and try to get it to comprehend me, or understand me fully. It might know a lot of facts about me – it knows my Facebook friends, Twitter followers, websites I’ve visited, stuff I’ve written, phone numbers of friends and family, and personal details like my address – but it doesn’t understand me completely and cannot explain or understand the depths of my soul, my emotions, what makes me weep, and the complexities of why I do what do, have the friends I do or how I work inside and out, on any more than a factual level. It cannot comprehend the depths of me. I mean, we’d think someone stupid if they asked their phone or computer to understand the depths of their soul wouldn’t we?

Now, the i-phone is a created object. We designed and created it, and so have set the boundaries within which it can work. We have boundaries we have to work within and which limit us, some imposed on us, some of our own choosing. So by definition, as we have defined the boundaries within which the phone works, it’s never going to be able to break those boundaries.

It might work hard, it might try to expand and grow, but the phone on its own is very limited, and there’s only so much it can do.

Human beings have spent thousands of years trying to understand the mystery of God. Great theologians have come and gone, and come up with new and fresh understandings, we’ve had the Bible interpreted and re-interpreted countless times and it has had a profound affect on our values. We have used our imagination to come up with images – through words, pictures, songs, and poetry, to describe God and try and understand Him.

All of these things can point us towards God, and connect us to Him, and bring us into deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. All of these things are good in themselves and helpful in us going deeper with our creator and understanding Him better.

But there is always one simple problem.

We are God’s creation.

We didn’t create Him, He created us.

We are all, essentially, creations of His imagination. (more…)

One word that the church has enormous problems with at the moment is ‘sin’.  It’s a word you try and avoid using at all costs, especially when you’re talking to a non-Christian. We avoid it because often once you use that word you can immediately be lumped in with all the nutter fundamentalist ‘bullhorn’ Christians and people think you’re going to proclaim eternal judgment and damnation on them, so even though they might hear your words afterwards, they tend to switch off. It’s such a difficult word, because there’s hardly any substitute. We often substitute it with words ‘mistake’, which is actually inaccurate, because sin itself is never a mistake, it’s always deliberate. The other reason we don’t like using it is because we don’t want to make people feel useless, hopeless people who don’t deserve anything and have no value – something that many Christians have been guilty of over the years, in their effort to spread the gospel, and in fact it’s done much damage.

The reason people equate sin with value is because that’s what religion and culture does – that’s the nature of the world we live in. Our world equates value with what you’ve done, your achievements, your behaviour, your character and your talents – and your mistakes, bad decisions, you ‘sins’ as it were. We’re almost trained to do this from birth, and we do it almost instinctively by the time we’re adults.

For example, something in us values somebody who has achieved great success and status in their chosen field than someone who has attacked and murdered a family – in our hearts we value the first person far more than the other person, and that is how society works, and it’s accepted by a large majority of people.

The problem is that we apply this value to God. We can easily be led into thinking, especially if we’re not from a church background, on a very subconscious level, that God gives us value according to our actions, achievements and status, either within church or outside of it. We don’t want to face our own sin, because we think that somehow this will devalue us in God’s sight or we will lose God’s blessing or even our salvation as a result – as if God doesn’t know about our sin. (more…)