:: laughing : dreaming : watching : waiting ::

“the night of darkness is just before the dawn…”

tonight i played my 3rd match with my new football team, dundrod old boys. were definitely no world beaters but it’s a decent enough team and it’s been good to get a good amount of game time for them. thankfully we look a bit better than the ladies team in the photo!!

this is definitely me out of my comfort zone. i suppose i’ve spoken/preached/written/blogged for so long now about the need for followers of Jesus to be infiltrating all areas of culture so it was about time i did something about it.

i mean, don’t get me wrong, i don’t want to over-spiritualise this as i’m desperate to get back playing football regularly again and try to keep a good level of fitness…but i do feel it’s important to get settled in a team and begin to build relationships with the guys around me. they are a civil bunch and i’m looking forward to getting to know them all better and share the highs and lows of a football season with them.

it’s tough at times. when the manager tells you to go in with 2 footed lunges…or to claim for throw ins that you know aren’t yours…or mouth off to the ref…or to get stuck in early on and leave the studs up in your first challenge…but i suppose that’s part of the tension and balance of trying to live right in the midst of the world but not reflect the characteristics of it.

think that was my best performance tonight but still much to improve on!! i’ll keep you posted with my progress…

haven’t posted yet about my amazing holiday which i enjoyed earlier on this month. after the intensity of leading a week long mission team in enniskillen through work, i headed off with 2 of my best mates to portugal for 7 days of banter, golf, good food, sun, relaxation and even some football squeezed in.

it sounds all very adult and civilized to say that we played 4 rounds of golf when we were out there…but if you’d have seen us driving the golf buggies out there you would think differently!! seriously though, some beautiful courses over there and the 35 degree heat and ceaseless sunshine certainly helped our moods!!

here’s a wee video of my swing on the 18th tee of the last course we played in a place called Villamoura.

we even managed to take in 2 football matches when we were over…and also a bull fight!! i know many of you will disagree with bull fights and i share your misgiving, although it definitely wasn’t as cruel as i expected. but it was a genuinely incredible experience which i won’t forget quickly. great atmosphere and entertainment as you watch 8 men go face and face with a bull, attempting to wrestle it to a standstill, causing injury to some of them in the process!

all in all a quality break away from the routine of life…but it’s always good to be back home!

after football last night i went to a great gig in the black box, hearing the wonderfully creative ‘rend collective’ play a set. was good to catch up with a few old friends who i bumped into at it too. nights like that are good for the soul i reckon…

anyway, i’m heading off on holidays in an hour here. mum’s stressing cos i haven’t packed yet so i better start that after finishing this post! heading to portugal for a week with a couple of mates. were bringing the golf clubs and hiring a car, so all in all that should lead to an eventful week!

i won’t be posting while i’m away so, in the meantime, take some time to look up my current favourite tv show ‘mock the week’ on youtube. genuinely funny on the spot stand up comedy. hard to beat! also type in ‘french beatboxer’ and ’super mario bros’ if you fancy a laugh!!

have been having a fantastic week down in enniskillen so far. think i carried so many worries and fears into this project, which is unlike, but probably just highlighted to me how leadership can often bring all your insecurities to the surface!

anyway, as a team we’ve been running lots of great venues and events throughout the week. i think they’ve all been of a fairly high quality but more than any of that, it’s just been a pleasure to meet some fantastic young people and spend some time with them. some have a vibrant relationship with God which inspires me, while others have yet to encounter Jesus for themselves. in all that, it’s been good to be reminded that our God is all about people rather than mere programmes…

i recently heard a quote that “the call to the church today is not to be relevant, but to be present.” i love that thought and i echo it in what i’ve seen this week. young people just long to have people present in their lives. and that’s what i want to aim for more of in my life. when i look at Jesus’ ministry, one of the main things that strikes me is that He was present. He was there. Nearby. Available. Close. Willing.

in the midst of any of our programmes, the call is to be present with people…

i’ll share more soon but have a couple of days left here then off to Glasgow for a mate’s stag do over the weekend. it will be good to spend more time with people!!

i’ve a busy few weeks ahead, heading to a few different places so blogging might be limited but will try to update when i get a chance.

i go to enniskillen today for a week, leading a great team of folks and trying something brand new there as we do a mission for teens called enniskillen 360. i’m overcome by a feeling of nervousness at the minute, but they are nerves tinged with excitement by what is ahead.

then straight home next friday night and heading to a mates stag weekend in glasgow which should be fun, then a weeks holiday in portugal with two of my best mates, Jonny and Craig. were bringing the golf clubs with us so should be a laugh!

shaved my head last night which means it’s most definitely summer!!

i thought this wee cartoon aptly summed up what i did tonight. i know i’ve blogged about my love for football before but i’ve finally bitten the bullet this week and joined a team. after a couple of pre season training sessions, i signed tonight for the mighty dundrod old boys.

it’s been a while since i played for a team and there was time a few years back where i’d just lost my love for the game and my desire to keep fit had faded. but now that’s well and truly back more than ever and i’m excited about playing as much as possible

all the lads seem dead on so it will be good to get to know them all a bit more. it’s been great crack already so i’m looking forward to more of the same!

i suppose in the work i’m in travelling around the country and meeting lots of different people…and as i throw myself more into my local church to take on the youth leadership there…i’m desperate to be hanging out with and building relationships with people more. so that’s what i aim to do this year and this is one way i know i’ll do that. but i don’t want to over spiritualise it anything. i need to get fit and i love football so it makes sense!!

i’ll keep you updated with how i go!

and following on from my previous post, language is an important thing. words are in general. i mean, as a Christian, i believe that i have an incredible message to communicate. and how am i doing that to my mates. or how are we as a church communicating that to our community? are we speaking in a language that can be heard?

i’ve always heard it said that the message should never change, it’s only the medium…but is this good enough? is that even true? was Jesus not constantly coming up with new phrases, stories, questions and words in order to communicate truth? or did the bible translators throughout our ages not re-word or re-phrase things so beauty could be seen?

i suppose i’m biased towards teens and so i’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. i long to be speaking words that are being heard. not those that fall on deaf ears because they are words that are too cliched or tired or over used. because this message deserves to be heard. i need it to be heard.

so what do we need to be doing to ensure the truth of Jesus is heard in a language that can be understood?

…better relationships perhaps to those we are conversing with…productions of song, dance, drama, art and poetry that engage our senses and embrace our emotions…continually driving for creativity and freshness in the words we speak…becoming greater biblical story tellers and allowing young people to discover the striking truths within the narrative on their own…investing in the world of blogging, podcasting and social networking to remain present in all areas of our culture…worship leaders signing up for open mic nights at the local pub…

i donno, that’s just a few for startes…any more??