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2020 Bible Reflections

March 24th 2020: Psalm 54

You can read today’s passage here: Psalm 54 (NIV).

You can listen to today’s passage here: Psalm 54

‘Surely God is my help;
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.’

 ‘I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.’

Sometimes it’s very tempting to cherry-pick the good bits from a Bible passage to suit what we want the Bible to say. You never do that, obviously. That mistake is one I make all on my own. You never just pick the one verse you like and ignore the ones around it, do you? No, of course you don’t.

If we were going to do that today, we’d focus on the verses I’ve picked out already. Don’t they sound good. The person writing this is sure and certain that the Lord – the one they have given their life to – is their help and the way that they are able to be sustained, to keep going. Not only that but the commitment and trust in the power of the name of the Lord that we’ve seen so often in readings recently – and which feels very timely at the present moment – is all present and correct. Never forget, trusting God is the right thing to do and the right way to go and the right direction to be facing in. Always.

Except that’s not all that the reading contains, is it.

Destruction of enemies is a pretty ugly thing to hope for.

But that is the aim of the psalmist here. There’s no doubt about it. God is requested to make sure that the psalmist is safe, that the enemies they face are wiped from the face of the earth and that God would show power in doing so.

We would never think like that though, would we.

No, of course not.

Except that I’ve started to see news stories around the world suggesting that those who might be ‘vulnerable’ could be expendable as we face and fight this invisible enemy. I’ve seen stories suggesting that the safe progress of the economy and the passing of a stable economy to future generations would potentially be worth the cost of lives of some people over 70 or otherwise vulnerable.

That’s a small step away from saying that caring for those who are impaired or disabled, or caring for people after they reach a certain age, or even if they fall within the most vulnerable 1.5 million people in the UK who were contacted by our National Health Service yesterday and told to stay inside for 12 weeks, is too much, too expensive, too costly, that it slows down the inevitable growth and progress of society too much.

You might think that’s extreme, but try being vulnerable or disabled at these times and imagine how it might sound, or feel.

No human being is ever expendable. Ever.

And so when I read passages like today’s, it makes me uncomfortable to think that someone who loved God wished for the destruction of their enemies, whether literally or metaphorically (I think the writer here is being very literal). The enemies I have are the ones that stop me from being part of God’s kingdom building army. I’m fortunate that I am not under threat of violence, I realise as I write these words. Let’s be people who use the freedom we have to be thankful to God and to trust Him, to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us.

Something to Do

Spend some time asking yourself who or what are your enemies at the moment? If you have any you can think of, here’s

Something to Pray

…pray for them to be blessed.

https://www.facebook.com/TheEmmanuelGroupOfChurches/videos/145801946798093/

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2020 Bible Reflections

March 23rd 2020: Psalm 70

You can read today’s passage by clicking here: Psalm 70

You can listen to today’s passage here: Psalm 70 Audio

‘May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you, may those who long for your saving help always say,
    “The Lord is great!”‘ It’s hard to be rejoicing in seeking something when you still haven’t found it. I quite often can’t find the chocolate biscuits at home and I can tell you that there is much more rejoicing when I find and eat the chocolate biscuits than in the time it takes me to root around in the cupboards to see whether the biscuits are still in the house or if they have been taken by others and have become ex-biscuits. A silly example perhaps, but the writer of today’s psalm is reminding us that the time is coming when we who trust in God will receive everything that we have been promised. And what a great day that will be, when the dwelling place of God is with people and He is with them and they are with Him and we know all that we’re meant to know and are known fully. Full togetherness, loving unity and everything that goes with that.

But for today, we see in part and know in part, and there is a beauty to the time of seeking. Seek the Lord while He may be found, indeed. So as we all keep seeking, keep seeking answers in this difficult time, keep seeking hope, healing, peace and freedom, let’s also keep praising. Our deliverer is coming.

Something to do

Find reasons to rejoice today. Good things happen every day. We just have to be looking for them.

Something to pray

‘Thank you God for your goodness and how great you are. I trust you. Amen’

https://www.facebook.com/TheEmmanuelGroupOfChurches/videos/1119138545086398/

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2020 Bible Reflections

March 21st 2020: Hebrews 8

You can read today’s passage here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/… and if you would like to you can listen to it here: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Heb.8. If you’re not in the practice of regularly listening to the Bible, I think you’ll find that it comes alive in a really different way when you listen to it compared to how it sounds in your own head when you read it from a book. I certainly do.

I run into two problems quite regularly as a minister which today’s passage looks at directly and challengingly enough to really make me stop and think. One is, to make sure I do my ministry and live my life ‘right’. The second is to do what I can to make sure that I serve the people that God has taken me to care for, love and support as best I can exactly that, as best I can. It’s easy to feel a failure at both of these tasks and the truth is that without God I would absolutely be a failure in my attempts.

‘But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.’

I’ll never be a High Priest in the way that the Old Testament and old covenant Priests were encouraged to live their lives to conform as closely as possible to what they had received as the directives on how to live and minister from the law that was given to Moses, but there’s still a temptation to build a ministry, or a temptation for us to build a Church, which is bigger, better, more noteworthy and which receives more favour than others we see around.

But here’s the rub and here’s what I think the writer to the Hebrews is trying to say: without Jesus, all efforts to do something good in ministry are fairly pointless, and not really ministry at all. It’s because Jesus did what He did that any of us are able to be followers of His and minister in the power of His name at all. None of us should minister in our own strength. There’s no point me praying ‘in the name of Haydon’. That won’t achieve anything, but if God writes his law on our hearts, his law of love over all things, mercy triumphing over judgement, people who act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him every moment of their lives then, and only then, we might have some hope of being used to build a Jesus ministry, a kingdom ministry, one which does the things that Jesus does and has the world-transforming outcomes that all of us dream of but I wonder how many of us truly hope for. Do we want to see the world changed? Set aside our own ambitions and get in line with God’s and commit ourselves to His cause. Then great things can happen.

Something To Do

Write down or draw the ambitions you have for your life. Who are you trying to please? If you get everything you want, who will benefit?

Something To Pray

Ask God to give you an opportunity to show His love and power to someone today

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2020 Bible Reflections

March 20th 2020: Hebrews 7:11-28

You can read today’s post here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+7%3A11-30&version=NLT

Hebrews is a complicated book. It, or the English translations of it at least – I can’t claim to have read in other languages – is full of close argument and complex sentences which take a lot of unpicking. Take the 18 verses we’re given in the Morning Prayer Reading from the Church of England today. People could write books about exactly what is being argued here. Indeed it’s been done. But breaking it down to the core important single point the writer is making is what I am hoping to do in the next few sentences.

The writer is making the point that God set up priesthood – people who point people to God and represent them to Him -first with the tribe of Levi and Aaron. The covenant – the contract or relationship between God ands people – was continually broken by the people as they turned from God and did their own thing, living life in their own way. And so God set up priesthood in a new line, the order of Melchizedek – Melchizedek means ‘My King is Righteousness” – God wanted a King who was truly good, in the deepest, most meaningful and foundational sense of the word and so Jesus, who was ultimately good, ultimately put the kingdom of God first, justice mercy, joy and peace first and showed what true love was, this man was able to properly show God to people and people to God and so the new relationship was made possible.

I’ve tried to keep that short and so would probably be accused by some of cutting corners or missing out something central to Christian belief and history, but the key point is this: we couldn’t ever get to the point where we were who we were designed to be on our own. We needed Jesus to show us what it is to be a Godly person. He put God first in His life. He put the needs of others before His own. He didn’t ask to be served. He served others instead. His actions backed up His words. And His words shared love, joy, mercy and peace, as well as justice and a warning that one day a moment will come for each of us where we will be asked to account for what, or who we put first in our own lives. Jesus sacrificed everything so that we who often put ourselves first, so selfishly, don’t receive the consequences our selfish actions deserve. If we put our trust in him, ask for forgiveness for what is gone past and every day seek to live facing in a new direction, his direction, then we can be free in the freest sense of the word free.

I want that kind of freedom, but not so that I can put my feet up, metaphorically or literally and live just as I want to, but so that I can live in a way that is as close to the way that Jesus did it as I possibly can. Wouldn’t it be good to feel free? It doesn’t mean things won’t be hard or go wrong in the future, but it does mean that we have the kind of freedom, the kind of peace, that it is just not possible to manufacture on our own.

Something to do

Commit to doing 5 things tomorrow that will definitely put someone else first, rather than just making you happy or more comfortable.

Something to pray

Ask God to show you things from today from your life which have been selfish, have hurt others, hurt you or been not the way that he would want. Ask him to forgive you. If you do that and really mean that you won’t live the same way from now on, you can know that you are free. Make sure to (safely!) spread some of that freedom tomorrow.

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2020 Bible Reflections

March 18th 2020: Psalm 1

March 18th 2020: Psalm 1

You can read the text of today’s reading here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&version=NLT

The text of this reading is pretty straightforward: if you want to be blessed, for life to be as it should be and to receive all that life has for you, all that God has for you, even, delight in the law of the Lord. It goes well for people who do, and it doesn’t go well for people who don’t. They are ‘the wicked’ (in the traditional, rather than modern sense). Most of us don’t want to be ‘the wicked’. We’d rather be the ‘good’. So, there’s a pretty big question: if we’re to delight in the law of the Lord and think, meditate on it day and night, what is that law?

People have been confused about this forever. Even the disciples of Jesus, the people who were closest to him and learned from him and did their utmost to follow what he asked them to do needed help working it all out, as we find it Matthew’s gospel,

“36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””

So, isn’t this timely? In a moment in world history where we could choose to be only about ourselves and seek safety and security for us and our families, avoiding the consequences of Covid-19, we are told that every single one of the many (and if you don’t know how many there are, there really are many, many) laws and details of how people that want to delight in the law of God and know what it is to be truly free have to follow is this one: Love. Love for God, recognising that we need God, that we can’t do life on our own. Love for self, casting aside the words that have hurt us and put us down over the years, the actions of others and the actions and thoughts of ourselves which make us think that everyone else is great but we’re not worth love; that kind of love. And love for our neighbour. I often ask kids in school, ‘who is your neighbour’? And they sometimes say, ‘Mr Smith’ or ‘Mrs Jones lives across the road’. More often than not, though, they’ve got it much better than most of us adults. They say ‘everyone is my neighbour’. The whole community is our neighbours. Obviously love means different things in different relationships, but we have to show love to everyone, we have to value everyone as if they were the most precious person on the whole of the planet, and we have to let them do the same to us. If we do that, and if we have God at the centre of it all, then we’ll be going some way towards delighting in the law of the Lord, being like a tree planted in streams of living water, one which bears the best kind of fruit. Don’t you want to be like that? I do.

Something to Pray About

Pray for those who are working hard in hospitals caring for the sick, for those in isolation at home with sick relatives, worried about who might catch the virus next. Pray for those in laboratories working hard and unseen on behalf of all, that God would guide their hard work and give them wisdom.

Something To Do

Check in with your neighbours. Say hi. Ask about their day and how they are. If they say ‘fine’, ask again until they tell you the real story. Get to know their story. Be brave enough to listen and brave enough to share your story.

Haydon

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2020 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings March 2020

March 17th 2020: Psalm 38 and Hebrews 6:13-20

As my ramble through some of the daily readings offered by the lectionary (the set readings many Churches use throughout the world for their daily prayers) you’re welcome to join along if you would like to. You can read today’s readings here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+38&version=NLT

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A13-20&version=NLT

‘18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.’

What a fantastic promise we’re given from the letter to the Hebrews today. God bound himself with an oath and he’ll never change his mind because it is impossible for him to lie.

It all feels very uncertain in our world today. I’ve been ‘isolating’ at home for three days already and it has to be said that the initial shine of having plenty of time to do all the things I’ve been meaning to do for ages hasn’t taken long to start wearing off. When times are scary, uncertain, or just very different from what we are used to, the easiest thing for us to do is to look to ourselves for the strength and the force of will to get through things, to make it out the other side of whatever issue we face – Covid 19 at the moment – and to think about how much we’ll congratulate ourselves when the troubles of this moment are over and things return to ‘normal’. The thing is, the more I think about it, the more I realise that there’s no such thing as ‘normal’ at the best of times, even less so now. This can send me into a spiral of doubt and uncertainty about what’s at the centre of my life. What am I about? What is this life for? What should I be aiming to do with the time I have? Of course there could be not much of it left, so how do I make the most of it? It’s tempting to flee, but if I was going to do that, the only place to flee to that truly makes any lasting, life-giving sense is to flee to God. He is firm and unchanging in uncertain times

I love Psalms. Songs, prayers and hymns from a time long ago, but a time when people seem to be just as disgruntled and discombobulated as we are often today. David writes the one that we have today and he is not happy. Everything is going wrong in his life and, a little bit like I do when I list my various entirely justified complaints to God, my wife, my family or anybody else, the majority of the song today is about how it’s all falling apart, but David is clinging on to God, clinging on to the hope that he believes will see him through. I wonder how many of us feel like we’re already clinging on. Or perhaps we feel like we’re rising above it all, but have a little note in the back of our minds that we might need some kind of safety net if it all eventually goes wrong.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews that the second reading up at the top of the post is from points to Jesus as the proof of the truth of God’s promise. His goodness, or holiness,  is astonishing enough, but the invitation that he extends to us to follow him, to take refuge in God and to invite others to take refuge in God too, that is all the more astounding. Who would give their whole life so that others could experience what it was like to be truly free, truly loved, truly the people that they were made to be? As we try and love and serve our families, our communities and ourselves in these testing times, perhaps there’s a moment or two available to us each day to ask the question what if? What if Jesus really is not just good, but Good? What if the hope and peace we’re all searching for is within touching distance? If it was, wouldn’t you want it? Wouldn’t you want it for all the people you are concerned and fearful for and about at the moment? I know I would.

Something to pray for

Pray for all people who are scared and fearful at the moment, that they would have the courage to ask God for help and peace.

Something to do

As you’ve been reading this, I’m fairly sure at least one person has crossed your mind. Phone or message that person and give them some of one of the most precious gifts you have to offer: your time and attention.

 

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2020 Bible Reflections

The Return of Daily Bible Reflections

Periodically I discipline myself to write a short piece about the readings that are offered for each day by the Church of England, the Church I work for. As we are in the midst of Coronavirus and all that it has brought so far and will bring in the future, it feels like a good time to start writing them again, particularly as I’m largely going to be at home for a good while.

I hope you enjoy the posts which will follow and that you find them helpful. I know that a lot of people I know and who follow me aren’t Christians and will probably sigh and move on when the posts come up on your social media feeds, but you never know, some of my jokes might be funny. Unlikely, I know, but still, a possibility which makes reading the posts probably worthwhile.

Haydon

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Music Reviews Some Great Stuff I've Heard Recently

I’ve loved all sorts of music in 2019. I’ve not been able to write about as much of it as I would’ve liked – life is quite different in my world to how it was  a few years ago and writing about music has never paid a single bill of mine – but music has given me joy at times this year, comfort at others and often accompanied me in times of stress and pressure. I’ve made quite a long playlist with songs from albums of mine that were particular favourites, but a list longer than 10 albums takes too long to read, so in that vein, here’s my top 10 of the year

Her Name is Calla ‘Animal Choir’

Sadly, this is the final album from the majestic Her Name is Calla. I have no doubt that they’re the best band that most people who claim to like music that falls into lazy categories like Post-Rock, Indie, Alternative and so on have never heard of. They’re truly a great band and this is their best album, a marvellous coda on a fine and, so far, grossly underappreciated career.

Shalosh ‘Onwards and Upwards’

I love me a good piano trio. Shalosh are an exceptional piano trio, particularly if you like your jazz trio’s to have rock leanings too. Which I very much do. So there you go.

Rymden ‘Reflections and Odysseys’

Another jazz trio, this time on the excellent Jazzland Recordings from Scandinavia, this one came as a pleasant surprise to me as I knew nothing about it when I pressed play. Enegetic, playful and muscular. This is high-quality stuff.

Son of Cloud ‘Son of Cloud’

Some albums are quick listens, the kind that you know are good, even excellent, but that don’t stay with you for weeks, months, perhaps even years afterwards. The self-titled album from Son of Cloud isn’t like that. It’s the best singer-songwriter album I heard this year by a million miles. A thing of true beauty and power, with some great songs and a thread of narrative to the album that will stay with you long after you’ve finished listening. More people should know about this album. Many, many more.

Flight Brigade ‘Chased By Wolves’

Indie rock bands who forefront guitars seem to be an endangered species in 2019. I love Flight Brigade because everything about them, their sound and their songs are impeccable and timeless. Their songs stay with you and their show is one of the best you’ll see from a band of any stature in the contemporary scene. Don’t miss them in 2020.

Pedro the Lion ‘Phoenix’

Listen to this, listen to “Quietest Friend” and then come back and tell me that the genius of David Bazan hasn’t grown with the resurrection of his awesome band Pedro the Lion. One of the greatest songwriters of this or any other era, full stop. And when he rocks, it’s extremely satisfying. Oh for a visit to the UK in 2020.

Portico Quartet ‘Memory Streams’

Probably the best live band in the UK right now, this newest record from Portico Quartet is among the most cohesive and potent of their career, even rivalling ‘Isla’ for power and emotion. Some of my favourite moments of this year have been watching them play, too.

Telefon Tel Aviv ‘Dreams Are Not Enough’

I have such a strong connection with the music of TTA. It has been with me through some of the best moments of my life, as well as some of the hardest. To find Josh coming back with the first new album under this name for a very long time this year was a joy tinged with sorrow as to what was lost and a hope that the great music of that past could be matched. I didn’t dream he could surpass the beauty of previuou records, but he pulled it off. A great album.

Hammock ‘Silencia’ and ‘Undercurrents’

Hammock are absolutely at the top of the game as regards ambient music and they only cemented that position and reputation in 2019. Not only did they complete a recent trilogy of albums with the beauty of “Silencia” but they released a monthly series of longer-form pieces named “Undercurrents” throughout the year too. Do seek that one out.

Sugarfoot ‘In the Clearing’

A glorious slice of country rock from Norway to close out the top 10. It will make you smile, no doubts at all.

And to finish things off, here’s the longer playlist:

Have a fantastic Christmas and a great start to 2020.

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Music Reviews Some Great Stuff I've Heard Recently

Shalosh “Onwards and Upwards”

I’m listening to a cover of ‘Take On Me’ (don’t tell me you don’t know which song I’m talking about) and I feel myself being transported. Music used to make me feel like all the time. Not so much these days. I’m getting old. And now I find that what is doing it for me in my mid-thirties is a ridiculously thunderous drum solo in a jazz trio version of an 80s classic. We do all become our parents eventually after all.

I’ve written often about not having enough time to write about all the music I get sent to review. It piles up in my inbox and around my office, accusingly. And then there’s the music that I find out about the way everyone else does. On this occasion, I discovered Shalosh through a magazine advert. So pre-internet. They looked enigmatic in their photo and the sparse, carefully chosen description drew me in, promising songs which built in intensity (check!) and passion (check!) to a tumultuous conclusion (check! or I might have invented that last one myself).

So off I toddle to my streaming provider of choice (so millennial) and I press play, before picking my jaw off the floor a few minutes later. What a sound. Shalosh are newly-signed to ACT Music and their new record ‘Onwards and Upwards’ is quite simply the best jazz trio album I have heard in many a long year. I’m not going to go on and on and on about it, just implore you to listen to it. And then listen to it again.

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Some Great Stuff I've Heard Recently

Favourite Music of 2018

I’m late with posting my list of favourite albums of 2018, with a sprinkling of early 2019 tracks too. I find I don’t have time to write long, flowery and descriptive eulogies to why albums are good, so instead I made a Spotify playlist. Do listen to it below and if any of the tracks I picked tickle your earbuds, I’d recommend the albums they come from wholeheartedly.

Now 2019 is in full swing I’ll be doing something similar on an ongoing basis through the year, as I find new things I love, so keep an eye out!

Here’s the playlist!