As the short video above explains, I’ve decided to put my YouTube videos on hold for now. Viewing figures have dropped to such a low level that I can hardly justify the time spent.
However, I shall continue to post regularly here on the blog, and the main part of them will continue to be written forms of all my messages, whether sermons, talks, or Bible studies.
If you have not signed up for regular updates from this blog, can I encourage you to do so? A ‘Subscribe’ button appears near the bottom right of your screen when you are on the home page. Thank you.
An interruption to the weekly teaching videos: I wrote this piece for the newsletter at one of my churches. After completing it, I thought the idea in it might be appreciated by other Christians who are thinking how they might spend Lent this year.
The idea isn’t stunningly original, but it’s simple. And it’s a discipline of engagement rather than a discipline of abstinence. See what you think. I’d love to know if you find this helpful.
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Between Christmas-Epiphany and Easter I find the calendar of the ‘Church Year’ confusing. And the culprit is Lent.
Why? Well, once we’ve got past the birth of Jesus and the (slightly later) visit of the Magi, we then usually go to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry at his baptism, having ignored the temptations, because we’re saving them for Lent. We then skip through the early and middle parts of his ministry, right up to the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday Before Lent. But then, instead of heading towards Jerusalem, we jump back to the wilderness temptations for the beginning of Lent and follow Jesus’ example of fasting and self-denial for forty days right before the end of his ministry rather than at the beginning. And while we’re doing it, we do another quick run through his public ministry.
As the introduction to one famous TV comedy show used to say every week, ‘Confused? You will be!’
Is it any wonder that many experienced Christians still don’t get a grip on the great biblical narrative when the church organises things in such an inconsistent way, and has done for centuries? In my weekly videos and sermons this year I’ve tried to bring some semblance of order to the post-Epiphany/pre-Lent period by concentrating on the Lectionary Gospel passages about the early and middle part of Jesus’ ministry, so that we can keep the story building. But once Lent kicks in, the continuity will go to pot.
So I have a suggestion. Make your Lent discipline one in which you read all four of the Gospels. At two chapters a day, you will get through them all in Lent, and that will be less than ten minutes’ reading each day.
Here is a suggested pattern. Because there are four documents to read – not strictly Four Gospels, but one Gospel and one Jesus according to four different writers – you will get a better flavour of each if you read them separately. I recommend that you begin with Mark. It was almost certainly the first to be written, it is the simplest, and Matthew and Luke clearly depend on it for some of their material.
Once you’ve read Mark, then read Matthew, the most Jewish of the Gospels, followed by Luke, the most Gentile of the four.
Finally, read John. Most scholars think it was the last to be written. John’s style and material are very different from the other three. While people puzzle about that difference, a worthy theory is that John expected his audience at the very least to know the content of Mark, so he sees no point in repetition.
Now this approach isn’t without its own problems. Mark, Matthew, and Luke will take you on a similar shaped story culminating in just one visit to Jerusalem by the adult Jesus. John, on the other hand, writes of three visits that Jesus makes to Jerusalem during his ministry. But you will get more of the ‘big story’ of Jesus’ life and ministry.
As I said, this is not a demanding discipline to try. There are actually forty-six days in Lent (because the Sundays are additional to the forty days). If you begin on Ash Wednesday, you will spend eight days in Mark, fourteen in Matthew, twelve in Luke, and either ten or eleven in John. You will finish around Good Friday or Holy Saturday, just in time to celebrate Easter.
I encourage you to try this. And if you do, I would love to hear how you get on. Please give me some feedback about how it goes for you. Let’s do something that engages deeply with Jesus this year.
In recent times I have of course mainly just posted my Sunday sermons here on the blog. But a year or so ago, I interviewed Christian author Liz Carter about her book Treasure in Dark Places. The reaction to that interview was so positive, not least from church members asking me where they could buy Liz’s books, that when the opportunity came along to interview Jo Acharya about her new book Refresh: A Wellness Devotional for the Whole Christian Life, I couldn’t pass it up.
Hi Jo, welcome. Would you like to introduce yourself to the readers of this blog, please?
Thank you so much for having me on your blog David! I’m Jo, and I’m a writer and music therapist. I live in Sussex with my husband Dan and we also help to lead a small group at our church for adults with learning needs. I write a regular blog and also write ‘easy read’ Bible study and faith resources for Christians with learning needs, both on my website.
You’ve written a devotional book that’s just been published entitled ‘Refresh: A Wellness Devotional For The Christian Life’, and it has a different approach from many typical books of personal devotions. Do you think the Christian devotional book has become a stale format that needs re-inventing?
I don’t think the traditional devotional format is stale, but I do think there’s room for creative variations on the theme. One of the reasons I wrote ‘Refresh’ was to offer gentle encouragement to people who are struggling with their health, life circumstances or even their faith itself. I have cystic fibrosis and know how hard it can be to keep up with a daily devotional, so I decided to give ‘Refresh’ just one devotional each week, which makes it flexible enough to work through at the reader’s own pace. The other advantage of that is that it allows the reader to stay with a topic for longer rather than rushing onto a new reflection each day, which I think gives it a chance to sink in and have a deeper impact.
I note from a recent piece in Christian Writer magazine that you’re a big believer in ‘simple writing’. Have you written this book in a way that is accessible to all sorts of people, or does it have a specific narrow focus?
You’re right that one of my passions is making the Bible easy to understand, particularly for people with learning needs. ‘Refresh’ is for a general audience, but I have tried to use relatively simple language to make it accessible for people who aren’t confident readers as well as some with very mild learning needs. My next project is to adapt ‘Refresh’ into an ‘easy read’ edition which will use very simple language and be suitable for people with mild to moderate learning needs. Hopefully that should be out later this year, so I’m excited about that!
And the specific theme of ‘wellness’: did this come from all the concerns about mental health we’ve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic?
I actually began writing the book before the pandemic, when the importance of mental health and wellness was already gaining attention. But these last two years have only intensified the need to address those issues, and even many of us who haven’t struggled in those areas before have had to cope with increased stress, anxiety, illness or bereavement, as well as losing access to some of the things we usually do to look after our wellbeing. I know for myself personally the experience of lockdown and shielding has exposed all the things I was putting my hope and joy in that weren’t God! And it’s pushed me to try and realign my heart to focus on him more and hold the things of this world more loosely. ‘Refresh’ explores a lot of basic aspects of life including the practical, emotional and spiritual, and I do believe it has a lot to say to those who have suffered during this pandemic.
I see that Patrick Regan, the founder of the Kintsugi Hope mental health resources, has endorsed the book. Has his work been a particular encouragement to you?
Yes, I found Patrick Regan’s book ‘When Faith Gets Shaken‘, which tells his own story of trusting God through suffering, really helpful to me personally. One of the big bees in my bonnet is about encouraging people to open up to God and be real about all the emotions they are feeling, and not hide from him. That’s something Patrick really emphasises in his work as well, and I’m so grateful for his kindness in endorsing my book.
With the rise in mental health issues being reported to doctors, we are seeing increased use of therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Do you think that your wellness devotional has something to offer in helping people reframe their circumstances and get out of their downward spirals?
I hope so. It’s certainly not a replacement for individual support like therapy, pastoral care or medication, but one area where I think ‘Refresh’ can be useful is in helping readers to identify areas where they might need that extra support. The questions each week probe a little bit into how the topic might relate to them personally and in the introduction I suggest that if particular questions are hard or painful to think about that might give clues as to areas that might be worth exploring further with someone they trust. Of course many readers won’t need further support, and for them I think ‘Refresh’ can be helpful for self-reflection, and an opportunity to discover in prayer areas where God wants to bring change or healing.
As an amateur photographer myself, I’m intrigued and pleased to see that you’ve involved your husband Dan in creating images for the book. How did that come about, and what do the images contribute to the book?
I think the aesthetic side of a devotional journal like this is really important. I wanted it to be a beautiful product that it makes you want to engage with it. So I needed some visual elements, and since I happen to be married to a talented photographer using his images seemed like the obvious choice! Dan’s photos represent each topic (usually in a somewhat abstract way) and they’re all quite different in style which I love. Images often communicate quicker than words and on a more emotional level so I think they give the book it’s feel. The book is also printed in full colour throughout which just makes it lovely to use and work through.
Is there a particular theme in the book that you think is especially relevant to our lives today as we continue to navigate the uncertainties and restrictions of the pandemic?
I guess the major theme weaving through the book is that God really wants to be involved in our whole lives, whatever they look like. For some of us our lives may have looked very different during this period, and we might have felt a bit lost in our faith too without the regular routine of in-person Sunday worship. Things may be beginning to return to normal for a lot of us now, but we still have that opportunity to keep inviting God into our lives outside of church. He really cares about our mundane everyday activities, our joys and our pain, and he wants to join us in all the messiness of life. So I hope ‘Refresh’ will be an encouragement to do that.
Thanks for taking part in this interview, Jo. Can you finally tell the readers the publication details of the book, please?
Jo Acharya
‘Refresh’ is published by Malcolm Down Publishing and it’s available now in all good bookshops. You can also get signed copies from my website, ValleyOfSprings.com/store.
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Jo Acharya is a writer and music therapist. Her first book, ‘Refresh: a wellness devotional for the whole Christian life’ is available from all good bookshops. You can read more of Jo’s writing and buy signed copies of ‘Refresh’ at valleyofsprings.com, and you can follow her on social media at facebook.com/valleyofsprings and instagram.com/valleyofsprings.
Two years ago, I read Liz Carter‘s stunning and challenging book ‘Catching Contentment: How to be Holy Satisfied‘. Her insights into finding peace and joy in God with no help from life circumstances made it my book of the year. It found an instant place in a collection of books I dub my ‘Pastoral First Aid Kit.’
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Liz by email about her life situation and her writing. Enjoy.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I live in Shropshire with my husband Tim, a vicar, and my two young adult children. I’ve been writing for most of my life – from a young age I knew it was what I wanted to do.
How long and in what ways has chronic illness affected your life?
I’ve been ill since infancy with a rare lung disease. I was the sickly child, the one always missing school. The disease is degenerative, so over years has taken more room in my life than I would wish. As a youngster I often felt different; a weakling, an object of scorn when I struggled once again in a PE lesson, someone who simply wasn’t trying hard enough, according to some of my reports. As an adult my illness arrested a teaching career after only five years, leaving me unable to work outside the home at a fairly young age. I was left feeling as if I had nothing to give, as if I was a failure, at life and at faith – surely, I thought (and some people said), I should have been healed, by now? I’d had enough prayer for healing through my lifetime – but it hadn’t happened. I’d only got sicker. Nowadays, I am often hospitalised with pneumonia, and struggle with multiple infections a year, leaving me in a constant state of fatigue and often breathlessness and pain.
Self-isolation during the COVID-19 lockdown must have been distressing. What was it like for you, and what got you through it?
When I received the shielding letter in March I was shocked and fearful. The words haunted me: I had been identified as someone at risk of severe illness if I caught the virus. I had to go into extreme shielding, away from my family, cut off in my room. I did not hug another human being for almost five months, and it was tough. I thought at first I would be okay with it, being used to some periods of isolation due to the infections I catch. But I wasn’t really okay at all, I found. Days were long and nights were sleepless, I was sad and I was scared. I’d been writing a book I thought I would finish, but the words stopped coming. I knew I needed to stop, to allow myself to admit this experience was painful, to sit within it a while. As I did so I found other words beginning to flow; words of honest poetry and re-imaginings of encounters with Jesus, words that took me closer into the depths of God when my own depths seemed fathomless. As I wrote, I found that God’s depths were even deeper still, and more than that, God was abiding there in those depths with me, holding me, in a way no other could.
Your first book, ‘Catching Contentment’, was about being content in Christ regardless of whether someone’s life circumstances were favourable. How did you first learn that for yourself?
To be honest, I’m still learning it – definitely a work-in-progress! It’s been a long journey over years, but the last few years in particular has led me to a greater peace in who I am and my situation, as I’ve delved deeper into what the Bible says about contentment – and how it doesn’t promise a pain-free life for those who follow Jesus. I loved reading more deeply around the words of St Paul, who said he’d found the secret to contentment, and wrote so profoundly of the truths he had discovered, of dying to self and rejoicing in all circumstances, of setting his mind on Jesus and living in the glorious hope we have been given. The more I read of scripture the more I can catch hold of the contentment not found in my wholeness, but in God’s holiness.
In your new book, ‘Treasure In Dark Places’, you are also tackling the question of suffering, but using other modes of creativity, such as poetry. How did you decide to approach this important theme from such a different angle?
I think that sometimes it’s difficult to capture something of the depths of pain and the breadth of hope in prose alone. The book of Psalms is my favourite book of the Bible because it expresses in such beautiful poetry something of the truth of who God is and how God loves, and I think that we need such forms today, as well. Often words of poetry will resonate and comfort deeper places where other words might not reach.
Can you share a short piece from ‘Treasure In Dark Places’ with us, please?
Yes, of course!
I wrote this one early on in the pandemic, when there was much talk of how the vulnerable and shielded would be placed at the bottom of the list for treatment when healthcare became overwhelmed. It was a response born of emotion but also of lament for all those who are suffering through illness or disability, and have been made to feel lesser in these times:
#SHIELDED
So what am I worth
in this scourge of the earth
it seems I am cursed
as my body is worse
than the young and the fit
I’m a number, an it
I know I’d be missed
but I’m on The List
condemned in a letter
until the earth’s better
I’m measured as less
in infirmity’s mess
But my value’s in more
than my CFS score
worth beyond age
or words on a page
more than a look
at lines in a book
a flawed reflection
of holy perfection
a new creation
of glory’s narration
loved beyond measure
in deep sacred treasure.
You’ve written these books despite the tremendous difficulties of your personal circumstances. Are people with chronic illness undervalued by the church, and if so what can we do to put that right?
Sometimes, yes, I’m afraid so. The undervaluing is expressed in 3 different ways, in general:
1. Sick people who have not been healed do not show enough faith, and therefore we should invest more in those who do.
2. People with chronic illnesses often cannot come to church, or to meetings, or can be ‘flaky’ and drop out far too often, therefore can be difficult to involve fully in the life of the church.
3. People who are long-term ill can be incredibly inspirational and brave, but we shouldn’t ask them to do anything because they probably don’t have enough energy.
All of these make assumptions: unless we are asked, we do not have the choice to say yes or no. Unless we are invited, we cannot grow into the calling God has upon us – for ministry, or hospitality, or anything else. Unless reasonable adjustments are made for our mobility needs and also for the fact that we do ‘flake out’ a lot, we are left on the edges, looking in to where it’s all happening without us.
I think that the pandemic has exposed something of this and many churches have responded so well, offering more and more content online to those who are housebound, and involving these people in leadership more. Churches will do well to keep up online worship when everyone else goes back to normal and sick people are left back in their isolation – I’m so glad my own church is being very pro-active about doing this.
With regards to those churches who assume lack of faith, that’s a simple case of re-examining some of the theology and bringing more compassion and understanding to the table. I’d love to see more of that!
Do you have any particular words of hope or encouragement for others who, like you, are enduring chronic illness or a life-limiting condition?
I find such great hope and glimpses of light when I reflect upon Jesus’ own life, suffering, death and resurrection. The more I think upon it, the more I am amazed at his outrageous and astonishing love for me, and the more this hope shines through the darkness. I would also want to add that it’s okay to release yourself from the bonds of feeling as though you have let God – or others – down, by continuing to be ill, whether physically or mentally. We must find space to be honest before God and others, to share our lament and our sorrow, and it’s in that place of honesty God so often does his redemptive work in our lives.
What is the main message of ‘Treasure in Dark Places’ and who should buy it?
Treasure in Dark Places is a collection of poetry and short stories that point towards hope, especially when it hurts. Its message is a reminder of God’s grace, love and supernatural peace, and a call towards the heart of God, to encounter more of God in our own depths and to lay out our own pain in candour and relief, as God meets us within our own dark places. It’s for everyone who sometimes finds life tough going – not only for those who live with illness, but for people who struggle in any way – I think that’s all of us, really.
Sound consultant Julian Treasure shares insights into what constitutes good speaking, in both a technical and an ethical sense. Well worth ten minutes of your time.
Focus by Mark Hunter on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Are you a church leader who wants to make the most of your life and ministry? Would you like to be part of a supportive network that helps you with this goal? If so, the Focusing Leaders Network, run in the UK by Leadership In Three Dimensions, could be what you are seeking.
There is an initial two-day retreat, with four one-day meetings spread over six months, plus a little bit of homework and an individual coaching session in between meetings.
FLN gives you the chance to reflect on your past, clarify your future and identify the resources that will help you grow and become more effective.
A new cohort for the south-east of England begins soon – with the retreat on 23rd to 24th January at Douai Abbey, near Reading. There have been a couple of late withdrawals, so an opportunity has arisen. Go here for more information.
Finally, let me declare an interest: I am on the board of management for Living In Three Dimensions.
Lesslie Newbigin in 1996. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
I consider it a bittersweet honour to conduct funerals. I have the opportunity to model hope and love in the darkest of times. Today, upon visiting one of my church members who had lost her husband, I discovered that some decades ago she had been secretary to one of my theological heroes – Lesslie Newbigin. I was glad only to discover that at the end of the visit, otherwise I fear the time might have been derailed.
But also today, a friend who is an Anglican priest shared on Facebook this obituary of a Catholic woman from Wisconsin. Rarely have I come across an obit quite like this one. Whether or not you express your faith in the same way as this lady, I invite you to read it, enjoy it and be challenged by it.
In many a sermon, I have urged congregations to engage with the Bible devotionally, even if it doesn’t seem exciting all of the time. I have used metaphors relating to food: in one, I point out that not every one of your three meals a day has to be memorable, but you need to take in nutrition for health. In another, I compare it to the actions of Joseph in Genesis urging Pharaoh to store up food in the seven years of plenty, ready for the seven years of famine.
With that in mind, read this testimony by Gordon MacDonald. Here is a clear illustration of the ‘Joseph’ approach. What MacDonald learned as a teenager has resourced him spiritually in old age. Read and heed.
Big Circumstance 