Missionary Man

Life is sometimes uncomfortable but always interesting...I am on a Mission from God communicating His love as servant/son through everyday living in Prague, Czech Republic involving, music, cafes, manual labour, blogging, creating, following, loving and eating food. Donations/gifts go to real things supporting the work I do like renting my apartment. Mostly it affords me the time to meet people (friends, prisons, homeless folk etc), improve my Czech language skills and more. You can give through my church where I am a full member. In return I will keep you up-to-date every month regarding my activities.

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Missionary Man turned 4 today! So the work with the homeless continues and planning on resuming a discipleship class too. The Lord is at work, and his purposes and will cannot be thwarted. Thanks to Him for providing me with work, opportunity, friends, brothers&sisters and more to do His work reaching out to those in need of grace, mercy, forgiveness, healing, restoration, and hopefully a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. 

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Beauty.

God is beauty. 

Thinking of how you can meet the needs of others who have hurt you rather than thinking of how to get back at them for being sorry they hurt you, not tending to wallow in your own hurt is real true beauty.

I am not at one with the cosmos. There's no 'oneness' connection to everyone and the earth and the universe etc, there's just me and beauty. 

Either I can float and swim in beauty to make me cleaner inside, emptying myself of hurt and raw negative feelings (noneness), or I can get lost in how I feel and take the well-worn human paths of retaliation. 

Retaliation will not bring peace.

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The banned 1971 film 'The Devils' by Ken Russel, a 'religious horror' film, has now been released. Like other films mocking Christ, His church and Christianity generally I usually avoid them and do not take offence because 'they know not what they do'.

I think it is funny how people go on about tolerating religions like Buddhism and fighting Islamophobia, and yet get irate and up in arms, more than willing to disrespect attack and throw mud at Christianity. I'm not saying these films should be banned, I think 'live and let live', I do not have the right to tell these people what to think and believe as much as they don't have the right to dictate what I should accept and so forth. They have as much place in the world and cinema as the old epics like The Ten Commandments etc - I had nothing against The Passion of the Christ except for Mel Gibson whom dislike intensely as an actor, I just generally do not like his films, which has nothing to do with any religion or his personal beliefs, and I laughed my head off at Monty Python's The Life of Brian. 

I think people have such a go at Christians and their beliefs because of (hardcore) far-right fundamentalist fanatics in the USA pushing anti-gay and other opinions which at best seem ungracious, and the Catholic paedophile priest thing which according to the Bible is very wrong morally, and absolutely not representative of what it means to follow Christ, and I believe most certainly does not reflect the lives and views of millions of other Christians (including Catholics) around the world, many of whom are fleeing countries such as Egypt and Syria, getting lumped in with Muslim refugees running away from war-torn lands, as indeed they must, as they'd face certain death in their home country just as Christians are imprisoned and killed in Iran etc. Because there's no real news coverage regarding the injustices and murders of innocent Christians in many countries, persecuted and martyred, the focus is wrongly shifted to issues without real compassion and kindness. 

When you think about a desperate woman considering abortion, or a person fighting for their LGBT rights, I think it is good to remember that they are God's creation, and He loves them with everlasting love, and this means a God-given right to dignity, freedom, kindness, compassion, acceptance and more. 

I don’t think that anyone has the right to judge such folk, and I suppose if more focus was shifted to Christians who show real Christ-like love to the disenfranchised, the outcast, the much maligned, then perhaps people may be less likely to have reason to make films mocking such pro-active love, the heart of the Christian message and mission.

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New life.  I am writing to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year for 2018. Veselé vánoce a šťastný nový rok.

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." - C.S. Lewis. 

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)”. Isaiah 7:14

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. John 3:16

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New band Empire of Grace are gigging. Formed with bassist Zdenek from my previous band Secondhand daylight playing some of those songs plus a few newies. Percussionist is Matej, the ex-manager of Zazemi, the cafe bar part of the Czech Christian community Ta Cesta. Matej now works in a school for blind kids and does social studies. 

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Reading stories to kids as part of leading a city camp in the Prague 8 district for two weeks. 

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Catch-up.

Time for a bit of an update:

Been working as a part-time teacher and more involved at another international church which reaches out to refugees. Because of the sensitive nature of the project there's no photos or more info. In addition the manager of the community centre cafe bar I helped reconstruct and decorate is the percussionist in my new band; "Empire of Grace". He left that job to study social studies and work in a school with blind children. Now I have a "partner in crime" we are hoping for breakthrough with one particular friend. I'm also teaching part-time and working with kids!

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Sometimes God takes us to places we would never even dream of, to do a work only we can do. Willingness. I was having panic attacks and a friend who assists nurses (My Angel) knew it was a sign something was wrong, deep depression, in my case partially repressed grief. So I went to a doctor and was hospitalized. God had shown me this was where he wanted me clearly. So I was admitted to a psych ward in a mental institution. My depression was so bad I was Jonah under the tree wanting to die. In hospital i felt like in the belly of a whale. Aslo see Psalms of David - my fave is 22. So there I was being treated for anxiety. God had a plan. Several of the patients were believers but did not have bibles. Soon the had bibles and a Lord’s prayer. One lad was ledt Christ and became a Christian, every morning we were meeting praying, and discussing God’s Holy infallible word. Some had NO visitors so I was a friend to the friendless. See also Job. I knew God had allowed my illness for a good reason. I reached out and made good friends quickly. In the midst of the darkness a strong light shone. I believe I was sent there by God, to a “Ninevah” fora divine purpose. He only wants our humilty and willingness to serve, he does the rest. Today I am literally released and home!!

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There was a guy, a peaceful guy with a dangerous message threatening the status quo between an occupying force and the appointed leaders. It was a message of love and peace against the rigid legalistic system of that society, where obeying a law meant more than helping a man up out of a ditch. There was a conspiracy to catch him out, and they chose the most brutal form of execution possible, rushing it thru without due process, ripping his skin to shreds with a whip, pushing nail-like thorns into his head and finally hanging him from a nail thru his wrists on a large wooden construction til he bled and suffocated to death. It's not a nice pretty story. It's quite horrific. The point of this story is why?, and to remember that why? each year, solemnly, as we understand we have all failed, and are in need of help to live a life that actually means something. I believe He is risen. So that He may continue to help us live that life each and every day. 

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One of the joys of being part of a community is sharing in those landmark milestone moments in a friend’s life. (Captain) Rex is a leader in my church and today experience the joy of marrying the love of his life, Zuzka. Fortunately for me he decided to share this happy occasion and so i got to witness the start of something truly special. Knowing Rex as I have for the last 3 years i am sure that Zuzka is a very blessed lady. 

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It's a weird year so far. So much death in January, now February seems to be a month of gross injustice: Nigeria, UK doctor's strike, neo-Nazi racist attacks in Prague near my home and so on. As evil raises its ugly head in different ways I do the opposite, and bow my head. Because hope springs eternal. Love will conquer. Love will rule. Love will defeat and vanquish all its foes. Perfect love drives out all fear. 'Respect' is a major huge part of what 'love' means to me. IMHO we must never surrender to hate and fear.

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It has been an honour and a privilege to lead my church’s weekly Wednesday evening Bible study for the last few weeks. Here you can see a “good week” as in attendance, it’s quite international, the photo was taken by a Hungarian man visiting Prague for work, there’s an Australian, South African, Ethiopian, Welshman (our pastor), American, Indian, 3 Czechs and me! The man sitting to my left (I am front-left) is my friend Michal who has been on quite a journey over the last 8 years since I met him. He is now attending the Wednesday group plus a Baptism preparation course! So encouraging to see! As you can see we always have really delicious food prepared by our host, which is one of my favourite things about this ministry!

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Instead of worrying about what your brother might get you for Christmas and how much you should spend on him, and how much you should spend on the food shopping, why not consider those without such consumerist concerns, why not spend less on those who already have, and think about those who do not have. The meaning of the Christian 'Christ'mas for me was originally about a gift of hope, which didn't come in the form of a sweater or an iPad, but rather something much less materialistic. In fact when the baby grew up he was more than explicit in what he thought people should do, how they should behave toward each other, it's maybe important to enjoy the new hope and the stars and yet not forget: "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Let's not forget the rough-sleepers in the cold, last week I met a few without even scarves, a basic thing that relatively doesn't cost much. I got my son a cheap Ninja Turtles hat, warm enough for the winter and next to it were other warm winter hats for 100 CZK (about 3.7 Euros) in the Globus supermarket which are good enough. These small cheap things could affect someone's life arguably more than getting more stuff for people who already have a lot of stuff.

Just a thought.

The photo shows my two sons Lukas and Adam pulling 2 trolleys containing 50 sandwiches and 6 large flasks of hot tea, plus hats, socks and gloves for the homeless friends we visit each Saturday as part of our church’s You Are Not Alone outreach.

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My church IBCP has a ministry called ‘FREEDOM’ which tackles anti-human trafficking. Every week teams go out on the streets of Prague to reach out to victims of modern slavery offering real hope. The teams also create gifts for the women they meet as a real tangible act of love, and these gifts are seriously appreciated. This year the drummer from my band and my 2 boys got involved making Christmas cards. 

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Part of my commitment to the International Baptist Church of Prague is being a part of their outreach to the homeless; “You Are Not Alone”. This photo shows my eldest son Lukas helping out packing forks in napkins to go out with around 50 hot meals distributed with hot tea, warm socks, hats and other practical clothing by 2 teams each Saturday. An invaluable piece of social action, in my opinion.

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Love.

Well I have much sadness for the tragedy in Paris and deepest sympathies to all my French friends. In many ways it is beyond words. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but feels joy in celebrating truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I hope that love will increase, and the hate will decrease. 

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I am a member of the International Baptist Church of Prague. Every Wednesday we meet for Bible study and prayer. As a Christian I find it vital for encouragement, support, and a chance to share what God has done for me in my life. Also, what He is doing currently. 2 of the ladies pictured are involved in Prison Fellowship, this means meeting with prisoners in prison, helping prepare them for release, and then supporting them once they are released, including a club for ex-offenders. I am currently personally involved with one certain young man who was in prison then re-offended.