Tears before bedtime

Went to the cinema on Friday to see '2012'. Arrived rather late for the 8pm screening to find the cinema foyer absolutely heaving with tweenagers waiting to see the new Twilight movie. It was utter pandemonium and frankly, I'm glad I was going to see the slightly-less-popular end-of-the-world epic.

Well, maybe...

Singing in the rain

A truly golden youthwork moment this Saturday...

Urban Saints trialled our first ever Training Hub this weekend in Hitchin - 24 hours of discipleship training for 14+ young people. Teaching on love - for themselves, for others & for God - in a residential setting. One part of Saturday was some social action projects. It was mostly clearing leaves and litter from the grounds of the local schools. The problem was it was blowing a gale and pouring with rain... This is definitely no celebrity-strewn Orange Rockcorps!

I'm on the team to record the event for a future promo video so it takes me a considerable amount of time to wrap my camera in plastic etc to protect it from the elements. As I march over to the nearby school site, it is becoming pretty clear that not only is this bin liner not going to be enough to prevent the camera getting wet, but it is also way too much to allow me to film properly.

As I arrive, I'm wrestling with the camera and bag but I can see this small, already sodden, team of young people and leaders clearing huge quantities of leaves as the rain pours down on them. There's no grumbling or slacking off. There's only one distinguishable sound (other than the thud of raindrops on the microphone and the rustling of the polythene in the wind. They're singing. It's not necessarily tuneful but it certainly is joyful and I scramble to capture some of it on the camera's soundtrack while I film the sights of massive rain-induced splashes in the muddy puddles.

I've no idea yet whether that recorded or not - I've yet to review the tapes fully - but that image is indelible. It was yet one more moment that made me proud - not only of the profession / calling I've found myself in, but also of the very young people we're called to serve.

Hypocrisy?

...and yet, most of my "heroes" DO carry guns!

So what does that say about me and what I know?!

Remember...

Are we better to remember the sacrifice people made on behalf of our country or the fact that war doesn't solve problems, it only causes them?

There are thousands who gave up their lives for the freedom I take for granted but why do we keep sending people into these conflicts to repeat the same mistakes? There are definitely heroes with guns - who deserve our honour and respect - but you don't have to bear arms to be a hero.

In a perfect world, we'd never have to enter battle to bring about justice but it makes me wonder if we'll get any closer to that ideal if we're always so keen to wade in with weapons...

Fear is your only God?

I've never EVER liked Halloween. Maybe it is because of my faith or maybe it is because I am essentially a scaredy-cat? Whatever the reason, it is one "holiday" I would gladly ban. In reality, for us Brits, it is something of a non-event. I only had to turn away one lot of trick-or-treaters this year and they were so little that I felt kinda bad not giving them anything. In America though, as most will be aware, it is totally different. Everyone seems to be in to it - even God-fearing believers!

I first came across this phenomenon when I went to Florida about 10 or so years ago. It was early October and all the major theme parks in Orlando (outside of Disney that is...) were preparing for their Halloween Horror Nights - the publicity posters were everywhere and even some of the ghoulish props were littered about the place. I find the idea of scaring yourself stupid like this rather unbearable but the Yanks just go nuts over it by all accounts. It concerns me to say that more recently we have gone down a similar path at places like Thorpe Park and Alton Towers and although at first the Americans might have had the advantage in budget and sophisticated technology, we're catching them up! Again, I have no experience of this but you won't catch me at one of these events ever anyway...

Harmless fun, if you like that sort of thing, I guess. But at the weekend I read (read it for yourself here) about something that made me both sick and angry in equal measure. I may have missed this (as apparently it has existed for almost as long as its secular equivalent) but in the Bible Belt of the US, there are churches that put on horror-night-like "Hell Houses" as some sort of twisted morality play... Kids pay to go through a 'haunted house' full of all the ultra-graphic consequences of straying from the path of Christian belief (like, for example, a botched abortion - see pic). They're terrified to within an inch of their lives and then given the opportunity to repent and accept Christ. And if this is all sounds a little medieval - and it is - don't be fooled, as these events have just wrapped for another "successful" year this last weekend.

Still not sure what I'm going on about? Read this article from a couple of years back... it's "scary" stuff!

This is plain wrong. Perhaps advocates of this extreme-evangelism will argue that is contextualising faith (in a culture obsessed with 'halloween fun') or a simple case of going to whatever lengths necessary to save souls? For me, this is merely a case of the end justifying the means and it concerns me that the believing young people who take part seem to have way too good a time portraying the evils of society. I don't believe in a Gospel that requires you to be too scared not to accept it. The Bible says that 'perfect love casts out fear' (1 John 4:18) NOT 'perfect fear brings you to a place of love'. This stuff is way beyond brain-washing - it's (border-line) abuse. It is, in its worst cases, evil itself and at the very least is guilty of over-emotionalism.

I pray to the God of love that this stuff never crosses the pond. We have a duty to protect the children and young people in care both from the evils in the world and sometimes even the evils in the Church. However, it does make me wonder whether we always know where to draw the line on things like this. Do we know when we are over-playing the emotionalism in our youth and children's work? Does the bloody body of Jesus on the cross - a la The Passion of the Christ - draw us to sombre reflection and gratitude or abject fear and guilt? And what about the more impressionable younger members of our churches? Do we sometimes use techniques that are exploitative to reinforce our spiritual point? Perhaps, but in my experience, this is very much the exception rather than the rule.

If we are involved in guiding and teaching our younger people, we must be sure that we are protecting them too and not abusing our position of trust and responsibility; especially not with extremist and overly manipulative scare tactics. God help us if we forget our place...

For those about to rock...

It's 3am and I'm negotiating the streets of Central London. Dodging drunk people and speeding taxis. A string of 80's classics are on the iPod and Dan's keeping me awake and on track through the winding roads. Five hours earlier, the final night of the 2009 Music & Media Academy on the Isle of Wight finished with a bang... with an enthusiastic crowd moshing into one of our cameramen!

Dan & I set off from Luton around 8am on Friday for a 20-hour roadtrip-cum-multimedia extravaganza. We picked up Emma from Guildford and headed for the ferry in Portsmouth. Once over on the Isle of Wight we got "caught in traffic" but still made it in time for lunch. The whole afternoon was spent putting together the camera kit, testing leads, planning shots, adjusting leads & testing our internet set-up.

The whole of the Academy builds to the final night concert. The musicians write, jam, practice and are coached to improve their skills. They meet new like-minded people and form bands ready to perform at the final show. The media crew - this year consisting of just 6, mainly returning young people - work to produce video interviews, posters, publicity, stickers and general accompaniments to the final show. This year, as an added incentive, they are broadcasting the whole show live on the internet so people at home can watch too.

The Friday set-up goes remarkably well - we're finished with time to spare and there's a relaxed expectation about the team. Soon enough it is show time and the bands launch into various rock and blues numbers. The online audience grows and we eventually reach 117 viewers although at any one point, our maximum audience is 32. The gig is a real mixed bag with some of the acts being a little more polished than others. However, all of the bands and performers know how to rock - unlike the following evening's X Factor performers - and the whole place is jumping. In fact, as the gig draws to a close some of the gathered crowd get a little over-excited, crashing into camera & cameraman! It's a great night and everyone has a real blast...



For us though, the night isn't over yet. We hurriedly pack up the kit and we hit the ferry back to the mainland at midnight. Then we head up to Guildford (note to self: it is best to turn on the engine before you drive off a ferry!) to drop of some of Gibbo's kit and pick up some late night snacks. Next we go to Streatham in South London, to deliver Emma home before navigating through the heart of the capital and back up to Luton. Dan gets home around 3:30am and I'm back in Hitchin before 4. A monster of a night... but it rocked!

24-7 Prayer Hitchin: In pictures

The prayer room at HCC...



The prayer wall





Prayer artwork




It's been another inspiring week but almost as soon as it arrived, it's gone again... roll on next year!