Faith and Cancer

Photo credit: aNto on flickr.com Creative Commons 2.0 As regular readers may be aware, I am a part-time primary school teacher as well as a worship leader & songwriter. While teaching my 9 – 10 year olds this week, something struck me. Our science topic is looking at healthy lifestyles and one of the units focuses on the importance of rest, relaxation and recreation. Then this was echoed in religious education where we learned about the Jewish festival of Shabbat (the Sabbath): “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2-3 NIV) Now I like to rest, but there are seasons in my life when rest and taking time out of work or ministry becomes a luxury! I am also quite a driven person, and come to think of it, most leaders I know also exhibit this trait. We work hard to

Creative Commons License: http://picturesofmoney.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Britain-Pounds.jpg I had a meeting with my accountant last month. It is that time of year when I have to go through the laborious process of gathering together all the paperwork to do with my incomings and outgoings with regard to my finances. I have a part-time job but I also receive income from other streams such as selling CDs, royalties, concerts, and for my ministry position in my local church. The law (in the UK) says that I need to register as self-employed and that I must declare my financial earnings etc. to the Tax Office. To be honest, I don't sell many CDs! All the money I make from them goes towards keeping my website online. In theory, I could ignore the law telling me to pay my taxes - they may not notice such as small earner as me - or they might! However, Jesus tells us very clearly what to do in Matthew 22: 15-21: Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in hi

Watching this video brought to mind a number of questions I believe are important for church leaders to wrestle with: Will disabled people feel welcome in my Church?  How disability friendly is my Church, both in terms of physical needs (ramps, hearing loop, disabled toilets etc) and in terms of attitudes of church members?  Do we underestimate the potential of disabled people in our churhces?  Are people with disabilities able to participate fully in the life of my church?  Are people with disabilities able to have 'platform ministry' positions if they are able?  Do we celebrate the abilities that disabled people do have rather than focusing on what they can not do?  This inspiring video goes to show that people with disabilities are people too and that there are things that they can bring something to contribute to the life of your Church community. How would Jesus respond?