where's me breakfast?

That'll do nicely!

The latest Guinness advert shows  Irish rugby stars playing inside a pint accompanied by "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones.

Guinness, Irish Rugby & the Ramones - does it get much better than that?

JUSTCOFFEEFORME 

The Bible’s Truths Today

I attended a men’s bible study several days ago made up of several men from my own church (including a few of the breakfast crew) and several from a neighbouring church.

The facilitator (well known to readers of the crookedshore site) was illustrating how we can use Old Testament passages to help us understand God’s vision for our community (and our responsibilities as Christians within it).

This caused not a little debate (it was a men’s group!) with allegations that the chosen passages were being taken out of context.

Not so for me. Because I had already totally accepted another key message of Rob Bell’s aforementioned book, i.e. if we accept the Bible is true, we should also accept that every passage in it is as true today as it was when written - we simply need to understand how the message that lies within the passage is true for us today.

Consequently, as we discussed Zechariah 8:4 - 5 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there."

I wasn’t thinking of the streets of Jerusalem in Biblical times, I was overcome with the potential of how we could do this within our community. Because the other Biblical idea that was resonating loudly with me that night (and I had been carrying around for a few days) was Paul’s teaching in Ephesians that those of us in secular jobs can use our work to worship God every bit as devoutly as our friends who are pastors, deacons etc. Equally, I thought, a group of men should not be overawed by the major church in the community projects going on worldwide (or even within Northern Ireland) we should simply come up with the best ideas that we can that can be achieved within our limited resources. And we very quickly got some crackers.

We agreed to meet again as a group. Please God we will.

 

Amos 7 – Tin and Plumb-lines

I have just finished reading Rob Bell’s 2005 book “Velvet Elvis – Repainting the Christian Faith”, which is a little slow to get going but is ultimately a fascinating and challenging read.

The section that has resonated most with me comes in Movement Two: Yoke (oh yeah, it is arguably a little pretentious at times as well). Here, Bell makes the point that all Biblical analysis is interpretation. This, he points out, starts with the English translation we are using because, since certain Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words do not have an exact English translation, the translator is forced to interpret the text in a way that we might understand today.

Bell beautifully illustrates this with the example of the word hell, which he tells us appears 12 of its 14 Biblical occurrences in the teachings of Jesus. Bell explains that the word hell is an English translation of the Greek word gehenna, which is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom. This was a ravine on the south side of Jerusalem, which had been the site of many violent deaths and was now the town dump, complete with rubbish, wild animals fighting over scraps of food (gnashing their teeth) and burning fires. So, while Jesus’ audience knew exactly what was meant by gehenna, it was always going to be a major challenge for any translator to give the word similar resonance hundreds of years later.

I must admit that this enlightenment helped me address my discomfort with Amos Chapter 7. You see in my translations, the crux of the Chapter is the rich imagery of God using a plumb line to measure how far His people have veered from His guidance (the straight & narrow so to speak). Now this image is something anyone who has every tried wallpapering would understand (especially if they hadn’t used a plumb line!). However, in this case, the translation is flawed.

H. Neil Richardson uses his piece the Four Visions of Amos (see http://members.bib-arch.org), to illustrate the problems of translation and the consequent importance of looking at Biblical text from a variety of perspectives, including, if possible, a knowledge of everyday life and culture in Biblical times. Richardson tells us that traditional translations have struggled with Amos’ third vision, and settled on the translation plumb line or plumb bob. The reason for their difficulty is that the Hebrew word ’anaµk, appears in no other passage in the entire Hebrew Bible. But having explored other Semitic languages, Richardson points out that in Akkadian the related word anaµku means only “tin.” Thus, he points out, if we assume that what Amos saw was tin, the vision could not have been a plumb line, as tin is obviously too lightweight to be used for this purpose.

Richardson believes that that the translation has been thrown by a scribing error and the more accurate meaning of the text can be discovered by examining the Amos’ fourth vision (a basket of ripe fruit), with which this vision is paired, and noting that the word for what Amos sees reminds him of another word similar to it in sound, which conveys the meaning of the vision. Assuming that Amos has done this in the third vision, then Richardson concludes that the word for tin - ’anaµk - reminds Amos of a word similar in sound: ’anaµh\aµh, meaning “a groan” and is predicting that God is about to put a groan in the midst of the nation, i.e. when the people start to suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing and begin to realise that God is not going to pardon them.

Now as someone who had always assumed that the best way to understand the Bible was with two translations and a good commentary, this was something of a shock, not to mention a little disconcerting.

Lesson 1: churches need to create and stimulate an environment whereby people study the bible in groups, preferably groups that contain a mix of demographics, denominational background etc.

Back of the Net Housty! (Twice)

I didn't rush into writing about THE EVENT of November because I wanted to take the time to reflect on what I had seen and heard. Not the one in the Odyssey by the way, (breathtaking though it was - many thanks Glenn & Bruce), this one was in the considerably more intimate Empire Music Hall on 26th November.

First, I love the Empire. Never have seen a bad concert in it, it seems to bring the best out in both the artist and the audience. It has the acoustics, the ambience and the good ale (well Guinness but I was on 5 "A"s in a row there!)and it just feels good to be in.

However, sometimes when you have been looking forward to something for ages, you have a little sense of trepidation about whether it can deliver as fully as you might have hoped. No worries there, young Housty played a stormer. From the gorgeous solo version of "Matthew Shepherd" to the rock out that was "Sugar Queen" (pardon the 1980s Radio 1 language!), Brian played with enormous confidence and not a little swagger.  I won't deny being a little biased. As another child of the 60s from the East Side of Belfast, I can identify with so much of Brian's writing - buying Vinyl from the independents (anyone remember the name of the shop in Smithfield that sold a huge range of Elvis Records?), going into Boots to look at the girls in the white coats (you had to be there!) etc.

The band was really tight for a bunch of family/friends rather than a regular touring band and my son was most impressed when I brought home the drumsticks of Ireland's best drummer (the paradiddling pastor).

As the four damp friends ate chips in a car in Abbey Street in a downpour (in case we got famished before supper) I was minded of the words of that other great East Belfast poet and musician - "Wouldn't it be great if it was like this all the time?"

And then there was more. Destiny connected the two "troubadours" again in the Bob Harris Saturday NIght show last week* when Brian appeared to sing a couple of songs and regale us with the story that connected Brian, Bob and Van and, indeed, "These Days", one of the 3 songs he played on the evening. Brian was warm, funny and, to paraphrase old Bob himself, VERY EXCELLENT.

Sometimes you get a sense that someone's time has come. If the email responses to Brian's set are anything to go by (not to mention a similar response when he played Janice Long's show several weeks ago) Brian is headed to be (in his own words) "an overnight success after 14 years".

As they might have said in the 'Yard - "Good on you son, we're proud of you!"

* check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/bobharris from 12:00 am on before it's too late!

JUSTCOFFEEFORME

Wait Till You Father Gets Home

I attended a "traditional" (if that's the word) East Belfast funeral last Friday. My mum's next door neighbour had died after a fairly long bout of ill-health; aged 80 and survived by her husband of 60 years. A believer, though perhaps not what might be called a religious person, and a good woman. I have known and loved the family all of my life.

The Minister was brilliant in the way only a man who knows the deceased and understands the East Belfast culture could be. He talked about a life growing up in the shadow of the 'yard, marrying a shipyard worker, supporting "Glenturn", loving her family and friends.

The bit that struck home with me was his reference to the total belief that this lady and her husband had in the importance of the application of both love and discipline  in the rearing of their children. The Minister had been told by both the son and daughter of how , if they ever stepped too far over the line, the famous line "wait till your father gets home" would be uttered. Given that "father" was like a better looking version of Robert Mitchum, this was not an idle threat. Thus the Minister was told anecdotally of the occasional beating, but one administered with love, which "never did us a button of harm". Perhaps, he mused, something was lost when the family ceased to be ruled by the combination of love and discipline.

I was minded of this when we battled through Amos 6 & 7 last Saturday. Because that's virtually what Amos is telling the house of Israel - except this Father knows exactly what they have done to overstep the mark.

And yet it's worse. How many times have they been told this before and ignored the warning? They are being totally complacent about the potential for, and the impact of this threatened punishment (I can empathise here. My dad was just as big as my next door neighbour but, although we were told "wait till your father gets home" as well, I don't recall him ever laying a finger on us!).

You can sense in the huge power of the verses, a God torn between passionate rage and passionate love for this idle, undeserving nation. Tough justice is administered, and yet you just know how much He wants to cease the punishment and to never have to apply it again.

There won't be too many more East Belfast funerals like the one I referred to. There certainly won't be too many more stories about life around the shipyard, Mersey Street Primary and discipline administered with love. Whether it's a style of discipline I would ever have considered as a Dad is a moot point. New age man doesn't hit his children and 21st century law forbids it anyway. Perhaps though, new age man has chosen a new age God, retaining all the warm loving bits and dropping all the hard stuff about anger, justice and retribution. And yet I guess God hates our complacency every bit as much now as he did 3,000 years ago.

He's returning of course. But like having a shipyard worker dad doing overtime, we are not certain of exactly when. I do though have a fair idea of what He is going to want to have a word with me about, which is why I never cease to be grateful for the cross!

Justcoffeeforme

Remembrance Sunday

 

 
   

               
Men will always disappoint you, their pedestals are gonna fall,
If you ask God for a king that king will only lead your young men into war,
But if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself,
You'll find love is the greatest gift of all and in the end there can be nothing else.

Brian Houston, Everybody Needs a Healer, Jesus & Justice. 2005

Justcoffeeforme

Sheds, Indie Bands and Amos 5

  I was painting my shed last Saturday listening to the Jonathan Ross show. The final guest was Charlie Higson. Charlie is a multi-talented bloke best known for The Fast Show and, more recently, writing the “Young James Bond” books. However, he first came to prominence in the early 1980s, as a member of the hip Norwich band “The Higsons”, who enjoyed only minor commercial success but had a substantial hardcore support and were the darlings of the NME, Sounds, John Peel etc.

Nonetheless, Charlie Higson quit music in 1986. The reason he explained to Ross was that he was living a lie. His heart and soul were not devoted to music like some of his contemporaries. He was faking it and it was only a matter of time (he felt) before the fans would see through him.

In Amos Chapter 5 we find out that God had seen through the Israelites a long time before, but their fate was going to be much, much worse than an empty concert hall or their album being relegated to the “bargain bin”. Israel, we find, will fall “never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no-one to lift her up”.

What had they done to deserve this? (to paraphrase the Pet Shop Boys rather than the Higsons). Well to add to the litany of offences listed in Chapters 3 & 4, we find in Chapter 5 that they “cast righteousness to the ground”; despise the one who tells the truth”; “oppress the righteous and take bribes”; and “deprive the poor of justice in the courts”.

But it is not just the various sinful acts carried out by the Israelites that offend God, it is their complete and blatant hypocrisy. They continue to have religious feasts, bring their sacrifices and offerings to God’s table and laud him with empty, insincere worship. Perhaps worst of all, they long for the day of the Lord, having totally forgotten (or ignored) what the day of the Lord will actually mean.

Two thoughts struck me about Amos Chapter 5. First, how often do we offend God through our Sunday worship and communions? OK, we might not come to church having trampled on the poor all week, but did we ever grow weary of helping them? And we might not have deprived the poor of justice in the courts, but did we ever let someone’s colour, faith, sexual orientation or political beliefs influence our view of what they were saying?

The second thought brings out the positive in the Chapter. For all their sinning, God repeatedly invites the Israelites to repent and be forgiven. The same message he gives us today. As Paul tells us in Ephesians, God’s gift of His Grace to us means that we can be saved through faith - an invaluable straw for us all to cling to as the day of the Lord draws nearer.

The Higsons farewell album was a compilation called “It’s a Wonderful Life”. If the Israelites thought they were having a wonderful life, Amos certainly is giving them a rude awakening.

Justcoffeeforme

And what should have been there

1. Hot Love by T.Rex
because this made a 10-year old boy fall in love with music.

2. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You by Elvis Presley
because Elvis is the greatest male vocalist ever.

3. Different Drum by Linda Ronstadt
because Linda is the greatest female vocalist ever

4. Saturday Night by the Blue Nile
because the Blue Nile are one of music's best kept secrets, this song is magnificent and their rendition of it at Derby's Assembly Rooms is probably the most moving live performance I have ever seen.

5. Man in the Corner Shop by the Jam
because Weller is THE MAN

6. In the Garden by Van Morrison
because there are few better examples of songs where the words, the music and the performace just gel together so brilliantly.

7. You Could be Happy by Snow Patrol
because I can't think of any better "lost love" song. When I hear the "somehow everything I own smells of you" lyric my crusty old heart just melts.

8. Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House
because Neil Finn is so good that he just had to be somewhere on this list.

9. Cole's Corner by Richard Hawley
because I keep promising friends that I'll refund the money if they buy the album (of the same name) and don't like it - haven't spent a penny!

10. Everybody Needs A Healer by Brian Houston
because when a fan emailed Janice Long calling Brian the third Belfast genius after George Best and Van Morrison, I found myself agreeing. Nobody has stated our need for Christ so perfectly.

And I've run out of tracks without fitting in Johnny Cash, Dylan, Springsteen, Tori Amos, China Crisis, Bowie or the Beatles - oh the joys of music!

Justcoffeforme

iPOD Challenge Number 1

The Chef's Challenge was a very simple one, and I quote "those who have mp3 players, set them on random or shuffle, and make a list of the first 10 songs that appear. No censoring now"

Being blessed with a 35 year old record collection, I was ready to very quickly embrace the challenge. Then I started to think about it. First, I am a lazy MP3 owner. Still enjoying vinyl and even cassettes, I have not got quite around to filling up my machine, so I'm not terribly sure that it reflects who I am.

Second, and more important, while music can form a terrific bridge between people (I had to spend half an hour with a virtual stranger the other day and the potentially draining small talk became very easy when we discovered a mutual love of Paul Weller) it can also be an intensely personal thing.

Music can be the new sharp shirt that you cannot wait to show to your friends but it can also be the favourite red underpants that you would hesitate to even let your wife see you in. Music can be the treasured picture of your family on the living room wall, but it can equally be the more than slightly embarassing picture of you in your best mullet that you skillfully removed from the "favourite memories" photo album several years ago but would never dream of throwing out.

But always being one for a challenge, I took out the machine, pressed random play and waited with trepidation ....

Track 1: U2 - Pride (in the Name of Love)
Not a bad start at all. Is there any singer in the world that can split an audience as much as Bono? Personally, I love the Guy. He might be an idiot sometimes but he knows his scripture and loves the Lord. And this is a brilliant song. It also brings a smile to my face because it reminds me of a story my mate Ray used to tell (who cares if its actually true) about our football manager who yelled from the sidelines "come on lads show a bit of Pride"  and in the next breath as we lost the ball stupidly turned to the coach and said "in the name of ****"
PS: Excellent U2 trivia courtesy of the Word magazine - the digital sign in the airport on the front cover of "All that you can't leave behind"  says J33-3, i.e. Jeremiah Ch 33 V 3 "Call to me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not".

Track 2: Level 42 - Tracie
Level 42 were one of those bands that everybody occasionally liked but rarely adored in the 1980s. They made some very good records, this isn't one of them. I think it came from a compilation album.

Track 3: Prefab Sprout - All Boys Believe Anything
I love this band especially Paddy McAloon's voice. This is from Jordan: The Comeback, which is one of the truly great albums of the last 20 years.

Track 4: George Michael - Too Funky
Not sure where this came from. Don't even like it. George Michael and Robbie Williams are two artists that when I decide I can't stand them they produce something pretty brilliant, and if I think I might quite like them, they produce something like this. 'Nuff said.

Track 5: Oasis - Live Forever
I smiled for the length of this record. My 12 year-old son put this on. He adores Oasis. One of the happiest nights of my life was taking him to see them at the Odyssey last Christmas. I spent most of the night watching his face.

Track 6: Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - From the Hip
Brilliant, brilliant band and songwriter and this is a simply wonderful song. It's from their Best of Compilation, which I thoroughly recommend.

Track 7: Bob Dylan - Just Like A Woman
One of my school friends got me into Dylan in the late 70s by lending me "Desire" which I absolutely adored (still do). In fact along with "Blood in the Tracks"", Desire remains my favourite Dylan album. This 1966 Track however, from  "Blonde on Blonde", would be one of my all time favourite Dylan songs.

Track 8: Will Powers - Kissing With Confidence
Trivia time: Will Powers was (and is) Lynn Goldsmith, once Bruce Springsteen's official photographer and (it is said) was encouraged by the Boss to release her music. This track got to number 3 in the Charts and it's still rather great actually. The uncredited guest singer was none other than the wonderful Ms Carly Simon.

Track 9: Paul McCartney - My Brave Face
This isn't a great track but I love Paul McCartney. He's one of my all-time favourite songwriters. Come on, how could the man who wrote "Yesterday", "Let it Be", "Hey Jude", "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Let me Roll It" not be forgiven for "Ebony & Ivory"?

Track 10: Lighthouse Family - High
For a brief while in the 90s, the Lighthouse Family were a great band. "Lifted", "Ocean Drive" and this song are still wonderful tracks.

And there we have it. Next time, what should have been there .....

Justcoffeeforme

Speed Bumps

It started along the sea front and gradually migrated into suburbia. Now, even in my own street, within the next few months they will arrive: speed bumps. Those misshapen rolls of tarmac and bituminous paint whose aim it is to have an argument with my car’s mortal coils. Unlike certain Top Gear presenters, I appreciate the need for these bone shakers as they serve a valuable purpose reminding us of our surroundings and giving a wake up call to our (legal) obligations not to speed. The book of Amos is littered with ‘speed bumps’, uncomfortable but necessary reminders to the people of Israel and for us today to wake up and pay attention.

It sounds as if the Israelites had fallen asleep at the wheel, certainly with regard to their worship. The heater is full on, the radio is blaring and the windscreen wipers are doing that funny hypnotic thing that windscreen wipers do. They choose to ignore the rather large warning signs about the road conditions, fallen trees, potholes, fuel shortage and the small matter of earthquakes. They choose instead to rely on the false cosiness of the tin box in which they are travelling - shame about the four flat tyres. Then comes that speed bump, Amos 4 verse 12: ‘prepare to meet your God’. Did they even see it coming? The Israelites had chosen to ignore God and now they were going to be introduced to Him...formally. I sense that Amos struggles to find words to express the enormity of the impending presence of God. He looks around him and his eyes settle on the surrounding mountains: “see them? that's God that is”. He stands amazed at the creative genius of the sun rising: “see that? that’s God that is”. As the Message puts it: ‘His name is God, God-of-the-angel-armies’. Talk about smelling the coffee.

It is a timely reminder of our relationship with God. God speaks directly into and through every part of our living. In the case of the Israelites he shows them hunger so that they should be reminded of their daily need for Him. He shows them thirst so that they should recognise the dire condition brought about by not relying on Him. He even puts stench in their nostrils to contrast with the sweet scent of being in His presence. It begs the question: what has God shown me today for me to hear him speaking? I cannot get away from those words: prepare to meet thy God. There is a clear sense of confrontation, as opposed to the psalmist who also mentions hunger and thirst (the good kind) and cannot wait to meet with God - Psalm 42 verses 1 & 2. There is a world of difference between meeting God and meeting with God.

So there we have it. It’s on this cliff hanger, with the bus teetering on the edge Italian Job fashion, that we wait for the outcome with Amos.  Are we there yet?...are we there yet?... are we there yet?

Greentea