Pat and I have just returned from a fascinating trip to Myanmar (Burma) with World Vision visiting projects and with the added bonus of meeting the child we have sponsored for many years, Myo Min Tun.  Many of the experiences will be shared on my forthcoming autumn tour.  Check the dates page to see if we will be near you!

Click on the photo for a slideshow

Reading a beautiful prayer journal from American novelist and essay writer Flannery O’Connor.  I just think this is such a beautifully descriptive prayer:

"Dear God, I cannot love thee the way I want to.  You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and myself is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon.  The crescent is very beautiful, and perhaps that is all one like I am should, or could see; but what I am afraid of, dear God, is that my whole self-shadow will grow so large that it blocks the whole moon, and that I will judge myself by the shadow that is nothing"

 

I have just been sent a copy of an article regarding my recent ministry exploits published by ASSIST News Service in California.

It covers some of the way my music has travelled and talks about "Tales of a Troubadour" which will be back on tour in the autumn.

Click here to read
 

Is something missing?

It was 3:30pm on what had been, up until then, a rather unremarkable Tuesday afternoon when I received the phone call. ‘‘We have a project that we might be interested in using your songs for over here in the States,’’ said the caller. Trying to sound relaxed, but with a growing sense of urgency, I quickly scrawled down the address in Nashville where the record executive wanted my CD demo to be delivered. ‘‘If it could be done promptly, that would be great,’’ he said.

This was terrific news for me. The market in the USA for worship music is huge and the opportunities and increased profile for my ministry could be very worthwhile if my songs were accepted. It was a priority – something to be done straight away! Hastily I compiled a CD (this was before the days of Dropbox and high speed internet connections!) containing of a selection of my songs I thought would be of interest, opened up a new jiffy bag, slotted the CD case inside, wrote down the address, bought the stamps and popped it into the post box . . . done! I noticed on the post box that there were still ten minutes to go before collection time. ‘‘Job well done,’’ I thought. My mind swirling with grand illusions of the widespread approval my songs would receive across ‘‘the pond’’ and the resulting increase in influence that would follow (yes, it does happen to worship leaders as well!) I strolled back to my house.

Back inside I decided to break for a well-earned cup of coffee when I spotted, to my horror, the newly burned CD of songs, minus its case, lying on the kitchen table. Shock! It should have been nestling safely in its jiffy bag in the post box, but I had forgotten to actually put the thing in its case! Glancing at my watch I abandoned my coffee, scooped up the CD and was off at a sprint back to the post box. I arrived in time, caught my breath and tried not to look too embarrassed as the postman arrived and I sheepishly informed him of my predicament, meekly requesting my package back so that I could insert the all-important CD.

In short, the packaging was right, but something was very wrong inside – the most important ingredient was missing. It looked fine from the outside, but it wasn’t going to be of much use to anyone in Nashville!

Incidentally, the songs were eventually rejected for the project, but the whole episode served as a valuable lesson for me in how we can overlook the essence of the message we are seeking to communicate and become obsessed with all the ‘‘packaging’’ that goes with it.

True Identity

One of the pleasures of the recent holiday season for me last year was having the time to sit down and watch the epic and profound screen production “Les Miserables”.   I’d already seen a London performance at the theatre so I was more than a little apprehensive watching the DVD for fear it might spoil my enjoyment I had attending the live event some years back.    I was not disappointed, the screen play was beautifully done, not a rival but different!  It reminded me again of the great story Victor Hugo had written; one which without doubt God’s grace comes shining through.

Having been on the run for several years, Jean Viljean, a central character, is keeping quiet about his true identity.  Now a reformed character no-one is aware of his past where he was unjustly sentenced for a considerable number of years for stealing bread to feed his sister and her starving children.  Having escaped the cruel conditions that he was sentenced to the convict’s life was turned around when a bishop he briefly visited showed enormous compassion and grace, pardoning him from stealing the silver candlesticks in his home.  Jean’s first-hand experience of grace motivated him to change for the better.  He became an honourable and trusted member of society, a successful businessman, but with a secret past.  When an individual was falsely accused of being the convict they were looking for, Jean Viljean, the character played by Hugh Jackman is faced with a dramatic dilemma: should he keep quiet and see an innocent man condemned, or reveal who he really is?  “If I speak, condemned; I am silent I am damned”.  Eventually Jean Viljean shouts.  “I am Jean Viljean 24601” (the number given to him whilst in prison).  “My soul belongs to God; I made that vow long ago”.  It’s a dramatic moment of realignment. 

Although perhaps rarely as spectacular for us in real life the question about who we really are is one that surrounds all of us.  “My soul belongs to God,” says Jean Viljean.  For the Christian, that makes a way for us to become new creature in Christ.  Righteous, joined as one spirit. The Spirit of Christ lives in us.

These are the solid truths of our real identity that connects us to truth, freedom and liberation.