Renew The Mind; Transform Your Life

I have chosen the 'Jesucristo crucificado'
By Diego Velázquez - to represent this most transformational prophecy in the book of the prophet Isaiah
https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/cristo-crucificado/72cbb57e-f622-4531-9b25-27ff0a9559d7 (Museo del Prado), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4214227

The Suffering Servant is the foundation of much of our theology about the sacrifice of Christ to deal with our sins and all the consequences of sin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Crucified_(Vel%C3%A1zquez)

The unusual use of The Amplified Bible requires a copyright notification.
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

Our theme for World Day of Prayer* was, "I Know The Plans I Have For You."  The day and the service were planned and printed and prepared for well-before any knowledge of what was to happen in Ukraine.  For this reason, I believe it is doubly comforting.  God is in the business of restoring people who have been displaced from their homeland.

More than this, He is also committed to their wellbeing during any season of displacement.  The passage we had was Jeremiah 29:1-14, some of which I share in the podcast.  I do not believe the displacement of the Ukrainian people is anything other than the purpose of Russia (unlike this passage that has a very different political and historical perspective).  I share the words because they show God's heart is towards those who are displaced, and His purpose for them is only good - to give them a future and a hope.

We, of course, have a part to play in making certain this is so.

[*World Day of Prayer was 4th March 2022]

"A Lover is a Giver; A Giver is a Lover."  This inspirational message and sermon explores the link between giving and genuine faith.

It was recorded while Storm Eunice was raging outside.  This means it's atmospheric but not using the usual broadcast level of equipment I have... after all, the power was out!  Thus, I've used battery-powered kit.

Do you enjoy the benefits of having a generous heart?  Those who truly love are naturally generous givers.  They give without expecting to receive in return.  They give without any hidden agenda.  They give because they LOVE to give.  They give for pleasure.

This is a ministry and a gift.  It is also the secret of divine prosperity until you start giving in order to receive... then it goes a little haywire!

The path to prosperity is to realise that giving is like planting seeds.  What you plant is not what is going to come up.  In a similar way, what you plant may not be returned to you from the place or people where you planted it.

Become a greater Lover by becoming a greater Giver.

The 12th Day of Christmas

On the 12th Day of Christmas, we celebrate the Eve of Epiphany.  This means we are on the cusp of change.  We end the 12 Days of Christmas and move into Epiphany.  I rather like the decision of the Council of Tours in 567 (what a great date!) that there should be celebrations from Christmas Day through to Epiphany Eve – which gave birth to the 12 Days of Christmas – or what we Brits call Christmastide.  This is a splendid idea since most folks don’t really come back to work until about 10th January!  Holding to this tradition and adapting it to the modern work pattern, we’d have 12 Days of feasting and 4 days to detox!

In fact, the ancient pattern wasn’t that far away from that - because there is a tradition of fasting during Advent to get ready for the feasting.

Fasting, feasting, detox!

From tomorrow, Epiphanytide will run until Candlemas.  What is Epiphany?  This is traditionally when the Three Kings came to adore the baby.  Thus, the Irish tradition of adding the figures of the Three Kings to the Nativity scene on Twelfth Night ready for Epiphany.

But that’s tomorrow… let’s talk about partying!

The famous Carol, “Here we come a wassailing,” refers to this evening where the poor would often go door-to-door singing songs of good cheer and blessing each household in return for a drink from the wassail bowl – filled with hot ale, apples, spices, and mead!  The noun, “wassail,” refers to the drink.

Where the wassail is more cider than ale, it can be connected to a more rural request for a good cider apple crop in the year to come.  To wassail, as a verb, means to party on in the lively way associated with twelfth night, and also to go from house-to-house singing carols.  It should, therefore, be a jolly good evening!

Another tradition you may enjoy bringing back is the King Cake – baked with a bean and a pea.  I’m guessing there was a separate cake for the boys and the girls as whoever gets the piece with the pea in gets to be Queen for the night, and whoever gets the bean gets to be King… for one night.  We can be heroes just for one day.  Servants would become masters.  This could become a fun family tradition for you and yours - if only for one night!

Do we need any deep spiritual message for today and tonight?  I don’t think so. Epiphany, tomorrow, is deeply significant, but for tonight let’s enter into the spirit of celebration, blessing, thanksgiving, and generosity… and if you don’t have the energy for that, you could always watch Shakespeare’s comedy, “Twelfth Night.”  (But that’s another story.)

Imagine being asked to leave a monastery for being too extreme. This was part of the journey taken by Simeon Stylites - a famous "Pillar Saint".

Focus gets results.

Jesus was presented at the Temple, as was the Jewish tradition. This involved circumcision as the child's name was presented to God.
We'd talk about a Christening nowadays, and a lot less blood and pain!

In the classic movie, "Dances With Wolves," we learn of the Native American tradition of naming someone according to their most visible or memorable characteristic or characteristic behaviour. Kevin Costner's character was seen dancing with wolves, hence the name. What would your Native American Name be from your current lifestyle? What would you prefer it to be if that's not a happy answer?

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄THE 9TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
Saint Basil on Social Justice (and more!)
The 16th Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations is, "Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions." Goal 10 of the 17 is, "Reduced Inequalities." Goal 1 is, "No Poverty." Goal 2 is, "Zero Hunger," and Goal 5 is, "Gender Equality." Saint Basil would approve.

Quote 1
When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.

Quote 2
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

Quote 3
While we try to amass wealth, make piles of money, get hold of the land as our real property, overtop one another in riches, we have palpably cast off justice, and lost the common good. I should like to know how any man can be just, who is deliberately aiming to get out of someone else what he wants for himself.

Enjoy more of Basil's wisdom here:
lnkd.in/gUxyujtx
and
lnkd.in/gKQ8GmmZ

"Let It Be"
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
[Songwriters: Paul Mccartney / John Lennon]

I wonder if the Reformation was a rejection of Motherhood?  It's an interesting thought given the venom against Mary.  What would have happened if Sigmund Freud had access to Martin Luther?  Imagine Luther on the couch and Ziggy saying, "Tell me about your Mother..."

In this very emotional recording, captured last Christmas, I realise (watching it again with some distance) that my own loss of my Mum is impacting what I share and how I share it.  Mum died in 2019, and the wounds are still raw.  However, this is the point of the Podcast and the Vlog - we all need a Mother figure.  The Apostle Paul recognised the need of the Church to have father-figures, even though Jesus was clear that we only have One Father.  If the Church needs flesh-and-blood father-figures to help the saints grow to maturity, how much more do we all need Mother-figures?

[Pauline reference is 1 Corinthians 4:15 "For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News."]

Enjoy then, a fresh, if emotional, appreciation of Mary and Motherhood on this, the 8th Day of Christmas.

Oh, and also enjoy the shout outs to two other great Mother figures: Guan Yin and... Moominmamma, with her handbag full of wonders and compforts!

Not content with bringing focus back to Mother Mary, here's a bit of Eastern Philosophy!  https://youtu.be/5yZ8a_zAEl0 - it includes Guan Yin.

In the Western Church, we celebrate Saint Sylvester the First - a Pope who was the Bishop of Rome for over 20 years.  He was a great 'tribal' leader, holding the church strong against heresy and division.

My message for the coming year is to "Choose Your Tribe" - by which I mean find a tribe that misses you when you're not there.  You need a tribe that values you even when you cannot contribute.

Any tribes you currently belong to who make no indication that you matter to them when you're not there are not worth belonging to.

Let this year, then, be the year where you are defined by the tribes you leave, the tribes you join, and the tribes you lead.

The 6th Day of Christmas

 Saint Egwin (don’t think "St Eggwhisk").  Absolutely committed to supporting widows and orphans.  He was very strict – promoting faithful Christian marriage, and clerical celibacy – which made him less than popular with many!  He was dispatched to Rome to seek vindication from the Pope.  Miracles happened en route that led to his later recognition as a saint.  The miracles are mentioned in the recording so I won’t expand here.

 My point – a man of principle whose actions matched his beliefs.  He committed to caring for those that God places as a priority too.  A man who left a powerful legacy since he went on to found the Abbey at Evesham.

I learned a new word too: “Obloquy,” which means, “strong public condemnation.”

 The United Nations have identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  To take practical action on this, I have been a member for several years of, “Buy One; Give One.”  The idea is simple, and the execution is exquisite.  Every time I sell a product or service, I pay it forward via a project that reflects one of the goals of the 17 SDGs of the UN.  As you ‘buy one’ from me, I ‘give one’ – acknowledging gratefully that you have enabled this gift.

 I am very concerned about the loss of direct educational experience that has hit our Nations for over two years now.  Whilst I most certainly mean school students, I include anyone of any age who has a love of learning.  In response, I am seeking to resurrect the programmes that were at the heart of my happiest times with Buzan Centres.  Buzan Centres were the brainchild of the late Tony Buzan (Creator of Mind Mapping) and the birthchild of the very present Vanda North, who set up Buzan Centres Internationally.

 We used to run family study weekends together where students of all ages could come and experience the joy of seeing their speed-reading skills increase, their memory boosted, and their ability to organise their thoughts revolutionised.

 This recording was captured last Christmas, and in it I made a promise that I haven’t yet kept – to begin those programmes again.  Now you can hold me to that promise.

 And for every course place that I sell, or gracious gift to support our work that we receive (so we can provide free training too), we will honour Saint Egwin’s spirit by paying a portion forward towards fulfilling the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, via the wonderful B1G1.com

Come, let us learn together, and make a difference together, forever.

If you fancy supporting my work (and great intentions) you can give here: https://bit.ly/InvestStudySkills

If you invest, don’t be a stranger – there are a 1000 ways I can say, “Thank You!” and add value to your life.  Join the tribes I belong to and feel amazing about the contribution you make.