Acts Community

Jesus the teacher

July 15th, 2010

A Blog post from Matthew Thomas – Core Leadership team.

I was sat watching an old movie recently called “Dead Poets Society”, a film where Robin Williams plays an inspiring teacher, and I was left thinking about my school days.  After quickly recognising that I was never really that bothered by school, that I was more than happy to do the bare minimum to get by, I started to think about my teachers: the strict ones, the funny ones, the ones for whom I played up.  A memory of one of my English teachers came to mind, and of one moment in particular.  Now this moment is very simple and may not seem significant to many, but it spoke to me then and it still does now.

We had previously been told we were going to start studying a new book and had been given a copy.  We were expected to read the book ourselves so that we could then discuss the book as a class and draw out any important or interesting points. I remember reading the book on my own in preparation.  It was one of only two that I actually read from the six that we were meant to within the two year course.  As it happens, I only read the other because the same teacher caught me out for having not read it and told me I would be tested on it.

After reading the book I went into the lesson ready to start.  We were asked to give our impressions of the main characters and I duly gave my opinion.  I can remember what I said but I won’t bore you with the details.  At this point the teacher picked up a brand new book out of the box, cracked it down the seam and proceeded to write in the margin the comment that I had made.

Reflecting back this teacher would have known the text inside out, would have had his own annotated copy and been able to think about it at a much higher level than me. He may have thought that my opinion was only partly right, or it may have been a viewpoint that he had heard and taught a hundred times before.  But in that simple moment he made me feel that what I had to say was valued.  I felt like he would be going through the text with us, with fresh eyes, ready to learn and excited by the discussion.

As I was thinking about my English teacher and pondering on Robin Williams’ portrayal of a teacher, my thoughts moved to an even greater example of a teacher. In the Bible Jesus is often referred to as ‘Teacher,’ and that is very much my experience of him. When I read the Bible, I read about people who are basically the same as me; the same failings, the same hopes and dreams. And I read about Jesus the teacher, who walked alongside them, asking questions and listening to their responses, encouraging them, guiding them, making them feel valued. The more familiar I become with Jesus the teacher, the more I want to know and understand what he is teaching.

And finally to quote a line from the film mentioned earlier, “The powerful play (of life) goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

Thoughts in June…

June 15th, 2010

Blog post from Paul Harris, core leadership team.

It is 4 months before the Cardiff half marathon, the 8-10 people from the Church who intend to run the 13 miles to raise funds for Christians Against Poverty are beginning to get quite competitive.

My own training has been progressing slowly for 2 months or so until Sunday13th June.

I decided to get a lift to Ferndale which is 5 miles away from my home. I set off on the (mostly downhill journey) and it was going well, to the extent that I decided I may even manage a personal best time over the 5 mile distance. However before I clocked up my first mile I get a pain in my calf, suspecting it was the early stages of cramp I stop running, stop my watch and stretch the calf. The pain continues, I’m over 4 miles from the house – no Mobile phone.

My only option is to risk causing further damage by continuing gently (slower than normal) along my route, until I see a guardian angel in the form of Lisa Codd, driving her Renault Scenic towards Ferndale. I flag down the car and ask if I could use her phone to call for a lift. But instead she offered to give me a lift home.

While I have been feeling sorry for myself over this sporting injury, wondering how long I’ll be out of action and more importantly how much progress my competitors will make I remembered the following story:

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, “This is good!”

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” To which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.”

And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. “And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.” “No,” his friend replied, “This is good!” “What do you mean, ‘This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”

“If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you.”

Situations may not always seem pleasant while we are in them, but the promise of God is clear. If we love Him and live our lives according to His precepts, even that which seems to be bleak and hopeless will be turned by God for His glory and our benefit.

Genesis 50:20 (NIV) – - – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. Even better than a sliver lining is a promise from God.

“And we know that all things work together for good of them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

The gift of Grace

May 9th, 2010

A blog post from Paul Harris – core leader.

I recently saw this video clip titled ‘worst miss ever’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5j3203LC3k

a similar one can be seen here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYOA4BXIqk&feature=related

however the second footballer manages to score a goal to go some way to redeem his earlier miss.

Watching these videos at a time of the year when people are concerning themselves end of year targets and and reaching goals set either by themselves or by others. It occurred to me that most of us have expectations which we either burden ourselves with or demands put on us to perform at exams, work output or other means. Our self worth and value can sometimes be measured by how well we do when we see how close we are to our goals and targets.

I recently attended my 4 year old daughters parents evening and even though I genuinely would prefer her to have an attractive character, I couldn’t help myself wondering how good or bad she is getting on at school compared with her other classmates.

The Bible has some good news for us on this very issue about standards and acheiving verses value and worth. Romans 3:23-24 says;

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift

Without any exception every person has sinned and therefore failed to reach the high standard set by a Holy and perfect God. BUT God offers a free gift to anyone and everyone who has missed the mark. That gift is his grace which can raise us up to his standard and make us ‘right’ with God. There is nothing that can be done to earn this gift of grace, it is a gift.

Isn’t it just as well that when it comes to God that he does not demand that we meet goals and targets because even our best efforts are no more than worthless attempts when compared with such a Holy God. No matter who we are God’s free gift is offered to us – we could accept the gift and be made right with the creator of the Universe.