Jeremy Clarkson - Tried and Judged?

You may or may not be aware of the controversy surrounding Jeremy Clarkson in the British media at the moment over and alleged incident of him using racist language. Now anyone who knows of Jeremy Clarkson knows that his style and humour is always very close to the bone. He often uses terms and language that is intended to provoke a response and borders on causing insult. 

I don't want to role in on the circus surrounding the rightness or wrongness of anything he has, will or has supposedly done, more than enough people have done so already. What I do want to talk about is the trial and judgment meted out to this celebrity by the media solely based on the fact that he is a "celebrity" and therefore fair game. 

The first point which I want to make is that the word in question was never actually broadcast, was edited out in order not to cause offense, and if you believe the statements it was rerecorded and edited out on the say so of the so called racist Mr Clarkson. 

The second point is that the media has taken it on itself to go on a witch hunt in order to unearth something that it knows will sell, a story they know they can profit out of. To do this they have gone digging around searching and seeking for some slip up, a mistake, that they know they can build a controversy around. There has been a planned strategy behind this in order to discover, publish and follow up on something that they can tell the unsuspecting public is in their interests and instructing the public to be outraged by this.

As I said, I neither support or condemn Jeremy Clarkson for what he did or did not say or for his behaviours. Although I will admit to enjoying Top Gear with its irreverent sense of humour and school boyish approach. However I do feel that here we have someone who is being victimised for something he knew to be wrong after which he took steps to correct. Here we have a man not guilty of racism, but someone who having being brought up in a particular time period has grown to understand that what may have been acceptable in the past is no longer so. Here we have someone who knows that he skirts the boundary with controversy, but has obviously tried hard not to purposely cause offense on such a sensitive subject.

I don't know how anyone else feels, but I do object to being told time and again by the media about what I should be feeling offended by, I like the millions of other people in this country and around the world have a brain and I am capable of using it to make my own judgements and decisions. The number of people who felt it necessary to lodge official complaints about this issue a long time after the event in my mind shows a culture of people who are looking for what the media is trying to feed it, an excuse to be outraged. It was the same with Russell Brand and the Andrew Sachs debacle, how many of these incensed people were even aware of the original episode? How many of them actually watched that or any episode of Top Gear? Are we guilty of having the media that as a society we deserve? Lets not forget the recent scandals that the media industry has been involved with recently, are they using this and other "outrages" to try and hide from their own dirty past?

So this brings me on to the point I wish to make. Where should we stand on this situation and others like it? Do we weigh in and lay our voices with the camps of support or condemnation? Do we sit in the court of public perception and the media and pass judgment on all who are brought before us to be metaphorically stoned? Looking to scripture we know how Jesus chose to deal with such situations, when he said "He who is without sin may cast the first stone". We know not only from scripture but from our own life experiences that the rule you use to judge others will be used to judge you. I know that I myself even as a Christian live a life that is far from sinless, can we afford to live lives where we sit in judgement of others? I would hope that others could be forgiving towards my failings.

We know that what was said by Jeremy Clarkson was wrong, he has admitted as such himself. So where does that leave us? 

For me I feel we should be offering support to Jeremy Clarkson for the situation he is going through. We should make it known that we do not judge him or find him more guilty than anyone else for using abusive language. We should also make it known that neither do we support what he said or racism, hate, derogatory terms or any other kind of sin. We should be giving support to those affected by racism, those who suffer it in their daily lives and who face not only verbal abuse but physical and emotional abuse due to race. We should be educating our children and friends that all forms of hate and prejudice are wrong, including the hate and prejudice of those who are themselves guilty of hate and prejudice.

We can not live in a society that claims to be anti racist but yet is happy to be prejudice against people for other reasons such as celebrity. We need to let the mainstream media know that while we abhor the use of racist language, while we detest hate in all forms, we do not want to be guilty of what is essentially the same sin under another name by persecuting people for other reasons.

Society would be a much better place if people were more loving towards each other, more understanding and caring. If instead of looking for flaws and error we looked for opportunities to teach, learn and grow, if we looked for opportunities to love rather than hate. 

In closing this slightly ranty blog post (and I know it is the first in a very long time, recent traffic to the site has prompted me to get back on the blogging wagon again) I want to share some verses with you from Luke's gospel. If these don't tell us how to act with each other then there is very little that will.

Luke 6:41-42

‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

So in future, before we become obsessed and incensed by the latest newspaper frenzy lets think about how we should be acting and what we should be doing. In the end it all comes down to one word;

Love!

It's not just god who has plans

This post is something that has been on my mind for a few days now and something I have been hesitant to write about. The reason that I want to write about is because it is something that just will not go away and it is something I think we should all be concious of. However I am hesitant to write about it because the majority of this post will be about the enemy.

This post began due to the fact that I have been struggling and I have been thinking a lot about the plans that God has for me. I have been looking for signs and looking for direction form God, I feel that I know the beginnings of the outlines of the plan God has for me, I feel I know the direction but the details are sparse in places.

In thinking about the fact that God has plans for all of us I began to think about the fact that the enemy has very real plans as for what he wants us to do as well. The fact is that the enemy knows that God has plans for us and these plans are the very best, and so he will do anything he can to overcome these plans if he can. The enemy has plans, plans to destroy you, plans to harm you and plans to deny you of a hope and future.

The thing is that the enemy is very good at making his plans look fair, he is accomplished at making his plans attractive and alluring. The enemy is known in the Old Testament as the tempter and he is well deserving of that title as he is the original and most practised tempter in the universe.

We often talk about god and his plans, we mention Jesus and His love for the world and the Holy Spirit being in us and setting us on fire. But we forget about the fact that although the enemy is not perfect as God is and though his power is a fraction of His he is still throwing everything he has at us in an attempt to draw us away from the path we should be walking.

The enemy will tempt you in every way he can, he will send trials your way that will tempt you in ways that will break you and cause you to sin. The only way to successfully resist the enemy is to ask God for help, to pray ceaselessly that He will help you in your daily battle. There are going to be times when the devil will tempt you and cause you to sin, but if you accept the saving grace of Jesus and return to God with a repentant heart you will not be turned away. The best way to defend against a threat is to know it exists, don't ignore the enemy, do not belittle his power. He is very real and he has powers that are greater than we are, but God is greater still and it is only through Him that we can have eternal life.

Do you love your brother?

1 John 4:20-21

     If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.

This is a concept that I will willingly admit to struggling with, there are certain people who at times cause me to come very close to breaking this commandment. I would not say that I go so far as hating anyone but at times certain people in certain situations have caused me to think some distinctly unchristlike thoughts.

I know that in being a Christian we should aim to be Christlike, to act as He acted and to love as He loved and I know this includes loving the unlovable. I know that this is axiomatic but it is something that we should not just brush over, something we should explore and consider carefully. I know that loving the unlovable is a paradox but through Him all things impossible become possible. If we have accepted God and the Spirit has come on us and dwells within us then these things that are humanly impossible become possible.

I was asked a little while ago by my minister about my feelings regarding my ex, what feelings remained, did I hate her or was there a part of me that still loved her. The answer I gave surprised me more than I think it surprised her. The reason being the one person in the world who has done more to hurt me than anyone else, the one person who in the eyes of the world I would have a justified cause to hate I don't. No matter how I think about it, no matter how much the memories hurt I can not bring myself to hate the person I once loved so much. I would also say that there is likely to always be a part of me that remembers and longs for the good times between us, she will always be a part of my heart even if it is a very small part.

On the flip side of this there is a particular client I have cause to deal with at work who would certainly be the cause of many a tarnished halo. He is a particularly difficult person to work with, he is one of those people who goes out of his way to provoke a response from people, someone so in need of attention he will do anything to get it even if it is negative attention. He works out exactly which buttons to press and works out which subjects are most likely to get a rise out of each individual. All of the staff at work to our shame have at times avoided this person and passed him off to a colleague and is the subject of much venting in the staff rooms. I felt particularly shamed the other day when one of my colleagues passed comment that as I intend to give my life to full time ministry and this person was getting to me it was particularly bad. Now all of my colleagues and most of the residents I work with know I am a Christian and most also know I intend to give my life to God's work and I felt I had let God down by my actions in this subject.

How can I someone who is a practising Christian and who is determined to do everything I need to to grown in the faith, someone who has grown to the point of being able to forgive the one person in the world who truly hurt me not feel the fraternal love towards this one person. I know that we are not Christ and that we will never be close to being Him, but we have to try. I know that I should be asking the Lord for help in this matter and hopefully God can use me as the person who can make a difference in this person's life. I pray that God will grant me the patience and the grace to work with this resident and that He will keep my feathers unruffled. If I am to boast that "I love God" then I must also be able to boast "I love all my brothers" too, I know this won't happen over night and will be something I am likely to need to work on for my whole life, but I do love God and so through Him I must learn to love my brother too.

Filled with awe

Habakkuk 3:2 (NLT)
     I have heard all about you, Lord.
          I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
     In this time of our deep need,
          help us again as you did in years gone by.
     And in your anger,
          remember your mercy.

I have heard about God and stand in absolute awe of Him. The works I have seen Him do in my own life defy all that I know, it goes so far beyond my understanding that I have begun to realise that in truth I know nothing. When I have been in greatest need, when I have had nothing and no one He has been there for me, He has provided. I know I have far to go and much to learn, I know there is much I need to do if I am to go and follow where He is leading me, now I am in need again I must once again rely on His giving. Many things I do, many times now and in the future I am the cause of God's anger, yet I am confident that in and through His son Jesus His mercy and grace will be sufficient to redeem me once again. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

     Trust in the LORD with all your heart
          and lean not on your own understanding;
          in all your ways submit to him,
          and he will make your paths straight.

Google "William Booth"

So we are on to week 8 of the Soldiers Challenge and so far it is going really well. It has been something that I thought I would struggle with and something I would find very difficult to keep going. However that has not been the case, the tasks so far have not been to much of a challenge so far and the momentum is beginning to build so that when the more tasking challenges come round the impetus will be there to continue despite the difficulty.

So this weeks challenge was to google "William Booth", although this one is a fairly easy challenge to do it is a somewhat important challenge because William Booth is the founder of the organisation I am a part of. Knowing about the history of the organisation I am part of and knowing the principles that it is founded on is very important if I am wanting to go out in to the world and win souls for Jesus through this organisation. It has also fallen at an interesting point in my journey into learning about the Salvation Army because I have just finished reading a biography on William and Catherine Booth and the early Salvation Army and have just started reading the book Blood and Fire which is similar in scope to the book I have just finished but much grander in its execution.

So lets have some William Booth facts;

1. William Booth was born on the 10th April 1829 in Sneinton in Nottingham.
2. He was the only son of the 4 surviving children of Samuel and Mary Booth.
3. William was apprenticed at 13 to a pawnbrokers.
4. He married Catherine Mumford
5. William had 8 children
6. He died on the 20th August 1912 in London

These are facts that are easily found out about William Booth just by checking the internet on sites such as Wikipedia. However the most important fact is that William Booth was a God led minister who had a passion to save souls by any means necessary. Booth was determined to see people saved for God from the depths of sin and depravity. He saw the need of the poor and destitute in "Darkest England" and decided that something needed to be done.

It is not really possible to talk about the amazing work done by Booth that was carried on by The Salvation Army, the organisation be founded. But that is not what this post is about, this post is about encouraging myself and those who are reading it to go out there and discover the work of these Saints such as Booth and to think about how we can continue this work now and in the future. It may be that you are not a member of The Salvation Army and you are not hugely interested in it or its work, but my thought is that we should learn about whatever organisation or Church we are a part of. But also we should know what we can about other Christians and Christian organisations in the world and the work they are doing.

So next week we have a somewhat different task to do, a task that for me personally is going to be a little difficult to do. The challenge is to pray for your government leaders each day this week. There are two reasons that this will be difficult for me, the first is that although my prayer life is improving and growing day by day it is still something I have struggled to remember to do on a daily basis. The other reason is that I do not support or believe in the policies of the current government and find it difficult to support them when they seem to be so actively attacking everything I believe should be done to fix the problems we have. However this may be a good thing for me to do, to pray for the leaders to see sense over policy decisions and to try and prevent our society crumbling under our noses. Check back next week on the Soldiers Challenge tab and see how it goes and see what will be the task following that.

Are you fooling yourself

1 John 1:8-10
    If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins-make a clean breast of them-he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God-make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

I'll be the first to admit that I have done many things wrong in my life. I have sinned often and have done many things that I should not have done. The facts of my past are something that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. There is no way I can undo the past to change the things I did then. But God has seen fit to account for my sinful nature, and the sinful nature of all people. Its an amazing thing that Jesus died so that we could be forgiven, He suffered so that we need not.

I am astounded that He could love me so much that He has paid the price for the sins in my life. I know I will sin again, I don't want to but being human it is inevitable that I will at some point. However we have to be careful that we do not use this as an excuse and become lax. "It's ok, I'm only human" can never be an excuse for sin. Because we are human we will sin, we have a sinful nature, but we must strive daily to be the best we can and not sin. Don't fool yourself, and certainly don't try to fool God, it wont work.

Know your sins and ask for forgiveness, know your weaknesses and ask for His strength. God know the very worst about each of us, yet still he loves us, it is enough for God that we love Him. Don't try to complicate the relationship just love Him and the rest will come by His grace.

By grace alone

There is absolutely nothing that you could ever do in order to be saved. Nothing at all. It just doesn't work like that.God is not watching and waiting for you to fill the world with good deeds. Not that you should not be living a good life and doing good deeds, Jesus commanded us to do that. It is just that our salvation is not based on it.

Acts 4:12
    Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one."

It is only through Christ that we can reach salvation, only through His love can we be made right with God. Jesus was sent into the world to bring the grace that makes us right with God, He was the solution to the problem of sin. By accepting Jesus into our lives and loving Him we can be saved. He knows our limitations and our natures, He knows we will sin again and again. Through the love of Jesus for us though we can be relieved from the guilt of this sin, we can be made right and brought before God by Him.

Those who love Jesus and have accepted Him totally into their lives have been given the Holy Spirit to help and lead us in our daily lives. If we have the Holy Spirit in our lives then we will be fruitful Christians, we will follow the teachings of Christ and do what He commands. That does not mean we will never sin again, but it does mean that when we do, if we repent, ask for forgiveness from Jesus it will be granted and we will be washed clean. Accept God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into your life, follow the way Christ lay down for us and have eternal life in Him.