by tashmcgill | Feb 17, 2009 | god ideas, Uncategorized
So, I was recently on a flight from Auckland to Wellington and back. What I was doing there doesn’t matter yet but I’ll tell you about it in a few days.
Point being, it’s been broadly publicised in my neck of the woods, how tight the domestic market for air travel has become.. blah blah, global recession etc etc. Read more here.
So, when your product becomes similar in cost to the other competitors in your market – all you have to build on, to generate return business, better loyalty and significantly better word of mouth sales.. is value.
I flew south with one airline and north with another. The first airline served a significant breakfast type snack, coffee, morning paper and inflight radio/tv entertainment. The second flight had no inflight music, nor tv, coffee/tea that was lukewarm and a ‘snack’ comprising of 2 pineapple lumps, 2 winegums and a jaffa. There wasn’t even a copy of the inflight magazine anywhere in our row.
The cost of each flight was the same within $5 dollars. In fact, the second flight was the more expensive one. Neither are advertising cut-rate travel options.
But I love to fly. So how I fly matters. The quality of service and environment. The provision of things that make the experience of flying worthwhile. The intangible, as well as tangible benefits.
So much so, that when on the same route today – I deliberately sought out the better flight. The pricing was still the same as the competitor, if not slightly cheaper. But my experience infinitely better. Similarly, had I wanted to go even further in the experiential goodness – the investment of a few extra dollars would have afforded me a slightly larger seat on a longer flight.
All this to say – it strikes me that we can so easily make the same investment in faith as we travel with Jesus. Full service, or lesser service .. the cost varies little – but the investment and commitment we make to the experience makes all the difference.
I do not want a short-changed experience – I long for the full service, faithful, accruing of airpoints that reflect a life of faith.
A message I heard recently about faithfulness and all sorts reflected on a significant passage of scripture for me = the words often said to the Israelites..
“Now, go up into the land that I have shown you and take possession of it. Do not be afraid for I go with you”. The speaker drew a parallel in our response to this call of God when it comes on each one of us, in each unique way… we either respond as Zachariah did, with disbelief… or as Mary did.. with eager and intrepid fascination at how God would go about fulfilling his promises.
The response of faithfulness to God’s promised land, and our required activity in that process is the scary frontline of purpose and pleasure. God does not need us, but He delights in us, as a friend reminded me yesterday.
Therefore, in the midst of all that is promised, all that is still becoming the fulfilment of God, we stand with two choices. The full experience or the lesser option. The cost truly, is just the same. A Christ who makes all things possible, made sin where there was never sin, for our sake, that he might become the fullness of God’s promise to us and we then, having the choice to respond in kind – might grasp hold of the fullness of His faithfulness to us, with our own meager offering.
Faithful, saying, Yes Lord, be it unto me as you have said! Only to be made more faithful by living and breathing in the full acceptance and experience of Christ at work in us and through us. By our very obedience and faithfulness becoming the delight of the Lord’s hand.
Hence, these were my thoughts at 30,000ft… as I enjoyed the fullest service and experience there was to be had today, and all the while wondering, “how Lord, will you do this thing in my life? yet, may it be to me as you have said.”
by tashmcgill | Feb 16, 2009 | Uncategorized, worship
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative.
“Arise from the dead.” Ephesians 5:14
All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you – “Buck up, take your disinclintion by the throat, throw it overboard and walk out into the thing!”
That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, “Buck up,” we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to teh visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say – “Arise from the dead.” When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the “bucking up.” God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says – “Arise from the dead,” we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to teh man with the withered hand – “Stretch forth thy hand,” and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because he gives life immediately.
by tashmcgill | Feb 13, 2009 | Uncategorized, youth ministry
There aren’t many stories that surprise me – but this one, from my friend in Wellington (who shall remain nameless for now) takes the cake of the strangest-to-date.
They work in an area of town well-populated with gang members and various criminal activity. One member of a local gang has been involved with the church via the youth pastor for a few years now – helping out with Christmas decorating and other activities, generally associated because of the nature of this youthworker to connect with people of all sorts. In fact, because of this gangmember’s associations and connection with the church – he’s been introduced to the senior pastor a couple of times over the past ten years or so.
However, a short time ago, when our local friend was in fact, dodging the police.. he thought hiding out in the sanctuary of his church would be a good option. He hid, the police sprung him and the senior pastor happened to be there. Terrible time for the SP to have a memory lapse.. but.. when the local said this was his church.. the SP didn’t recall having seen him before.
Long story short – local ends up before the courts to answer a few charges etc. The police summon the pastor of the church (serving notice etc), to testify according to the affadavit he signed at the time of the arrest.
Small issue. The summons was delivered to the youth pastor who then ended up spending three days at court as a police witness, thoroughly debunking the senior pastor’s affadavit that said the local wasn’t associated with their church at all.
The end result? She thought she was appearing as a witness for the defence, the police got highly confused about exactly which witness they were questioning and the strangest days in her youth ministry career occur … spent in the docks testifying against the senior pastor’s sworn statement in regards to knowing the defendant.
Oh golly. Thankfully the SP managed to have a good laugh about it. Sheesh. Awkward timesheets at staff meeting though.
by tashmcgill | Feb 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
We live as people of the Narrative. We’re becoming more and more comfortable with this idea in many places, both secular and spiritual. Even our liminal spaces are becoming places where narrative unfolds with meaning, if not with action and movement.
We need stories, but we need specific kinds of stories, especially as we develop leadership, thinking that cuts against the grain, as we walk journeys that differ from the path most often travelled.
Here are the stories I have come to recognise the need for. Of course, attached to stories, are storytellers – sometimes the messenger, sometimes the subject of autobiography. I need these storytellers and their stories – and I suspect, especially for those making our way from the edge to the centre and back again.. that you do too..
I need the stories of people who have done things differently to me.
I need the stories of people who are still doing things differently.
I need the stories of people who are doing the same things as me.
I need the stories of people who are doing the same things as me, and more.
I need the stories of people who have done things better than me.
I need the stories of people who have/are succeeding where I have not.
I need the stories of people who have/are failing where I have not.
I need the stories of people whose answers I do not have.
I need the stories of people whose questions I can assist.
I need the stories of people who will not give up despite hopelessness.
I need the stories of people who have given up with good cause.
I need the stories of people I have no compassion for.
I need the stories of people that seem not to matter, for meaning percolates.
I need the stories of people that survive, and those who do not.
Do you notice a theme in these stories we need?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
Ask me, what is the most important thing, and I will tell you – it is people, it is people, it is people. The breath of Life.
The Storytellers
I need the storytellers who can share the biography and autobiography of their own narrative and local meta-narrative. Those who understand the beauty of moments when you recognise the same story, on opposite sides of the ocean, at the other end of the island.
