I’m Not For Sale, No-One Should Be

I really don’t know where to begin, explaining the last 10 days and the journey that it has been. But I’ve learned (or re-learned perhaps) something that has already changed me from the person that arrived at Shepton Mallet to serve on team at Soul Survivor just over a week ago;

After experiencing some of the following things in the past few years – seeing the poverty stricken streets of Romania, visiting a house of over 50 recovering heroin addicts and worshiping with them and more at their church in Birmingham, playing with gypsy kids in the street as we pick litter in one of the more run down corners of Sheffield and after standing in a freezing car park and walking round the city centre on cold Saturday nights in the winter to give food and warm clothing to Sheffield’s homeless, alcoholics and addicts (and often times not feeling particularly warm of heart but rather wanting to be somewhere else) I’ve learned a million lessons and yet just one big, central, earth shattering, life changing lesson that sums them all up in one; it’s all about Jesus.

period.

So for 5 days I have been working as an usher in a team of 4. Though I was a little hazy as to my actual duties even up to the last day I have basically been policing 8,000 young people in the largest tent in Europe which has been both mental, fun and just amazing to be part of. When 8,000 thousand people get together to worship the living God no wonder things begin to happen, and no wonder the life and vision  and passion that I had only a few years ago come flooding back larger and clearer, washing the mundane and mediocre of life right out.

I’ve been massively challenged by the Soul Action movement so will getting on board with that this year and will hopefully encourage others to get involved too. Soul Action are doing loads of amazing things to help fight all types of poverty round the world. To see some of the amazing things you can get plugged in to, to help out this broken world check out their website here. (Deffo have a look at the I’m Not For Sale campaign).

I think in our western culture we can live so separated from a lot of things in our world. And we do genuinely have challenges that we face every day, especially for a lot of guys my age (not too many years ago there was no such thing as graduate unemployment, but now so many of us can’t get a job) but in all of this we do have an abundance of things to be thankful for. I so often forget that. I think sometimes it is good to look at our lives compared with the suffering, homeless and the starving in the world (not to feel guilty that we don’t do or give enough, and not to be guilted into giving, but more to be aware). Here’s a few stats about wealth and life; they’re really quite incredible:

-If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world’s population.

- If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

- If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed that the million who will not survive the week.

- If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

- If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

How amazing are some of those? It kinda makes me think What was I worried about again?!?

So generally this past week or so has been amazing, here are some things I’m pretty thankful for and have enjoyed:

• Every Big Top meeting
• Getting to Usher at Soul Survivor
• Reading books in the Soul Action Café
• Spending some quality time in prayer and in God’s Word
• The Furnace prayer room
• Crookes people
• FORM Woodbridge
• Banter with Dan and Andy
• Going on a ‘free-stuff’ raid with BT in the Tool Shed
• Looking and not buying in the Tool Shed
• Chocolate Mountains
• The £40,000 raised in the Momentum offering
• The 1000 people that gave their lives to Jesus for the first time over the Soul Survivor and Momentum festivals

(to and of my friends who aren’t Christians and reading this and you’re thinking; what is this “Soul Survivor?”; This is whacked!; You’ve brainwashed a 1000 people who now think they’re “saved”, that’s not cool; you’re all deceiving yourselves;haven’t you read any Dawkins?; there is no God; Jesus was just a dude and not the Son of God; you’re all bound and restricted and not free from anything; How have you fallen for this “Jesus Loves You” crutch; it’s a cult etc…please please please, let’s have that conversation! for reals, we’ll do it, you have my number).

aight, I need to catch up on some sleep.
I’ll update again soon.
Peace Out.

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