Fry'd Christians

Fry’d Christians

Stephen Fry attacks down the left, no down the right, through the middle round the sides, over the top and smashes the God delusion right into the back of the net! Another resounding victory for the Anti – Christ brigade, in fact I have never been so impressed since Johnny Rottens’ beautiful rendition of Anarchy in the UK on channel 4’s The Tube sometime back in the 1980’s which I incidentally still have somewhere on a high quality but low selling Betamax cassette tape.

And with the usual damnation of all things Jesus he frequently skillfully and meticulously dismantles the concept of a loving God that might one day welcome him with open arms into the bosom of heaven. In fact I believe am I right in saying that if that was to happen to Fry, the great man would decline the offer because  if ‘this’ God was to allow children to contract cancer and so forth then he wanted no part of this notion of heaven. Fry is a master of the English language and has more than one or two supporters if his twitter numbers are anything to go by.  There is no doubt he is a formidable and persuasive supporter of the atheist religion, and one whom I often wish was in the Christian corner of the ring rather than the other side which benefits from such an eloquent and high profile academic/celebrity/writer/director and supporter of gay rights. I admire him greatly he is a man for whom talent is endless as he succeeds in most things he turns his hand to.

And yet whilst he does much damage to Christianity and anything that supports the notion of a higher being, forgive me if I remain as much a doubting Thomas of his position as he is of mine. Within the great man I see a vulnerability that I feel supports the necessity of Christianity and the truthfulness of the faith of which I am part of. Stephen Fry is probably one of my favorite celebrities, one of the people I would definitely have at the top of my dinner party wish list. I am sure he could bamboozle me with anti-Christian rhetoric and take me to the very edge of jumping ship as he crushes my rather simplistic approach to my faith in Jesus as the way and the truth.

I don’t want to get into heavy theological debate about God and suffering, but in a nutshell I would suggest that suffering is a necessary part of our humanity, if we only experienced the highs then I believe we are not living in the real world. The lows remind us of our responsibilities, to love one another in times of difficulty, to pull together in times of strife, to support our friends in times of need and to learn much about our own existence, emotions and well-being.  If life was one big high and nothing went wrong, and nobody got ill, and nobody got hurt and nobody suffered then we would be living in Paradise, and you will not be surprised to hear me suggest that destination Paradise is awaiting not in this life but the next. Mr Fry with all his genius and all his intellect and his success and his wealth is brilliant utterly compelling, I really mean that, but he demonstrates just enough for me to doubt his rhetoric his front and his fabulously articulate destruction of the God that I love and one I believe loves me.

There are three views aren’t there? God exists, God does not exist, I am not sure if God exists or not! Stephen Fry clearly believes God does not exist and in the unlikely event that our paths shall cross I shall leave it to the worlds’ great theologians to argue with Fry and debate the finer points of God as creator or a bang that was very big! For those of you unsure then I absolutely understand the predicament. As for me, with all the sincerity, all the meticulous use of beautiful words, with all the utter genius of Fry, sadly or gladly it is not enough to dissuade me from my absolute conviction in truth of Jesus Christ. Why? Jesus Christ did it all, he loved, he healed,  he cleansed, he grieved, he walked with the lowest of the low, he fought the oppression of humanity, he stood up for his beliefs, he taught about righteousness and the future, and importantly he suffered. He suffered the most despicable and horrendous slaughter. He was humiliated, tortured, and reduced to nothing, and he died on the cross. His legacy leaves hope in a bright tomorrow, a way of life that can’t be criticized. Where is the harm in loving thy neighbor as thyself? Christianity has much to be rightly criticized for, organized religion has many flaws, and I am not responsible for the wrong doings of so called ‘Christians’ who have damaged the good name of Jesus. But I am responsible for telling the truth as I see it. As Fry is a man of integrity and genius I consider myself a much less successful individual but equally a man of integrity and my words may be much less persuasive and far less articulate than my favorite quiz show host but never the less they are written with absolute truth as I see it. I pray for Fry sometimes, why? I think he needs praying for, he may see that as condescending and inappropriate, I see it as absolutely necessary.

The secular word wants less Faith and more fiction; I understand this but the media moguls, the anti- Christ army and the sometimes offensive bigotry to people of faith should not surprise those who live it. Nobody said following Christ would be easy, it isn’t but following ones faith should prove fruitful in the end.

In Christ

Alextheanglican

The difference a year makes.

Hello and Happy New Year,

This is the day the Lord hath made and it is also the year God has strangely decided by his grace that I shall be ordained in. And indeed what a difference a year makes, Our New year celebrations were a little different this time round and we had a pleasant evening playing board games and indulging in an Iceland platter that did little to arouse the taste buds as we attempted to guess what we were eating and where the duck had absconded to, in the spring roll that was sadly lacking character and taste.

I think the first sentence to leave my mouth the moment Big Ben lit the indulgent fuse wire on the London fireworks was ‘I’m getting ordained this year’ and it was not to dissimilar the year before when the only difference was the addition of the  word ‘next’. It has to be said it has and continues to be roller coaster of emotions as I go from excitement to anxiety, to enthusiasm to frustration and tolerance to impatience. 

 However ordination is creeping ever closer but it doesn’t necessarily make things any easier to deal with.  We are fortunate enough to have our housing arrangements sorted which is something that some of my peers still have to finalize and as the property is empty we are able to pop along and begin to plan what will go where and who will have which room etc. The house is lovely and will provide us with a delightful family home throughout my curacy, but when I stand alone in the vast lounge or slow step around the study that looks out onto a lovely garden I really do reflect upon the journey thus far and wonder how it all got to this stage.  In hindsight a lesson I have learned and continue to learn is to trust in God and accept his will whatever that may be.

A friend said to me recently I can see you slowly turning into a Vicar! I took it as a compliment and as I reflect upon this long road to ordination it somehow rings true, The years of study, preparation, prayers, travel (boy have I done some miles?) reflection, laughs, tears are indeed slowly preparing me for a new life as a man of the cloth!  Occasionally I meet someone I haven’t seen for many years and when I tell them my new pathway they are initially quite shocked and wonder what happened to the previous ambition of being a stand –up comedian or full time jester in the retail sector.  Well if the recent residential at Rydal Hall was anything to go by the hilarity and sense of fun is still very much in the bones that God created. It was lovely seeing some dear friends with tear filled eyes laughing out loud as we let off a bit of steam as we journey together on the road to ordination. I am indeed slowly turning, or preparing for life anew and I am looking forward to it very much but it doesn’t come without sadness.

Work has many  finalities about it at the moment, last peak conference, last Argos Christmas, last annual performance review, last catalogue launch, etc. and whilst it may be assumed I can’t wait to go, it is most certainly not the case. After giving 15 years of my working life to the company with the laminated browsers it is going to be very difficult to say goodbye to the world of retail that has provided for me and my family since I first was employed by Curry’s at the tender age of just 15. Argos has pretty much been a great experience and has been a wonderful training facility for ordained ministry Trust me there is no walk of life that has not been experienced during my time as a retail business leader. The pastoral experiences have been unending, from bereavements to family breakdowns, from shoplifters to homeless people sleeping in bins, from acts of kindness to lessons learnt, Argos has been incredible.

For now I continue to do my best for my employers, January is never an easy time, but trying to encourage my team to prepare for a new boss and keep motivated is the focus of my attention at this moment. By mid-May my work with Argos will be done, I will be very sad to say goodbye but will take many happy memories and some wonderful friends.  At home the excitement and preparation slowly builds, a bit like looking forward to the holiday of a life time, not that I expect ordination to be like a holiday. But preparing, forming, whatever it’s identified as is joyful and scary, daunting and enthralling I am looking forward most definitely. I have returned to my sending church Higham St Johns, where the support is encouraging and affirming.

St Matthews in Burnley will be my future home that will offer new experiences, new challenges, and it will be exciting to see how my ministry and discipleship to God develops. I am getting ready to serve the people and Christ, I’m not quite ready yet, but through the support of my most amazing and beautiful wife Sarah and my friends and by the grace and
love of God by the time July 4^th arrives I will be able and ready to serve God as a Deacon then Priest then Vicar for the rest of my working life.

Your prayers will be appreciated,

Much love

Alextheanglican.