Never Enough!

Hi folks, this week we are meeting for curry, if you want more info why not send me a message! This week we continue our reflections on the movie The Greatest Showman. This week we reflect on the phrase ‘Never Enough’.

Betrayal is a key theme in the film, as Barnum does this with his family and his circus acts, as he tries to become respectable. Betrayal is found in one of the key characters in the life of Jesus, Judas takes centre stage! But I wonder if Judas was misunderstood… In Jesus Christ Superstar Judas is humanised and shown as someone who wants the best for his people, and he loves Jesus as much as he fears him. In the movie King of Kings (1961) he is portrayed as a freedom fighter for occupied Judah, who betrays him to force Jesus’ hand.

We might think that betrayal is far from our own door… but in reality is that REALLY the case? Is it shown in the things we don’t do as much as in what we do? Many people reflect and ask questions about World War Two… why didn’t people stand up for the Jews, the Gypsies, the gay and lesbian folks? This of course is not straight forward and it is hard to get our heads round, but what about the friends we have dropped because they didn’t fit? Or the lies we tell ourselves not to get involved in an issue at work or with our family. 

We all let people down… it’s part of life… we all to a greater or lesser extent betray folks and maybe even our faith. Maybe we have to face our betrayals! 

 Some questions

 What is your favourite film of the story of Jesus?

 What do you make of Judas?

 What is betrayal to you? 

 How can we make each other more accountable for our actions and in-actions? 

Peace, Rob

Rewrite the Stars!

Hi folks, I hope you are well. This week we meet at the Kittiwake, starting at 8.00pm, it would be lovely to see you if you are able. We continue reflecting on some of the themes from Greatest Showman, this week we consider the theme ‘Rewrite the Stars’, basing it around Mark 12:17: 

 “Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Before we get into that, let me tell you a quick story… a number of years ago I had an opportunity to serve overseas, before I went I attended some training for a week in Luton. I got the train down and it was delayed and so when I arrived at the conference centre I was rather flustered. I had shaggy long hair and was dressed in denim cut off shorts, DM’s, a scruffy tee shirt and an old jacket… I introduced myself and got invited in. They fed me and then I went in to the main room where they were already singing… I joined in… at the end after it had finished a couple of younger folks came and said hi. One of them said that they needed to apologise as they thought I was homeless and had been invited in for food and to join the session, when they saw me singing they thought I had become a Christian!! 

 I didn’t look the part in their eyes… I didn’t meet their criteria… I was different! It’s a reminder about respectability, even now I sometimes feel I don’t really fit in… with my long lanky hair and earring… but I suppose I have become more safe as I have got older and I don’t act or dress to shock as I used to! 

In the Greatest Showman we see that Barnum tries to get recognised by respectable society and tries to conform to a new way of being, and so he forgets where he came from and his old friends who were far from respectable in the traditional sense of the word. 

If we look at Jesus we see a man that often kicked against the system, our text is a prime example of that. Jesus was intent on following God’s agenda and would often stir it up and challenge the Sadducees and Pharisees and their respectable forms of the way to do things. So his focus on God led him to alienate some who thought his message was a threat to the Jewish establishment and the Romans. Our passage tells us that Jesus cleverly used the coin as a subversive way to handle a dangerous question. We also know he turned the tables over in the temple. The story of the Good Samaritan also reminds us that outsiders are included!  

 We are reminded that Barnum is not like Jesus… but he is very much like us all… we are easily turned to respectability and fitting in rather than challenging it! One of the other characters in the film, middle class, respectable Carlyle, falls in love with Anne. He thinks they can rewrite the stars and break free of societies prejudices around the colour of a person’s skin, meanwhile Anne thinks their love is doomed! 

Society and the church live and breath respectability, and many folks struggle with difference and with those that challenge the status quo, not much has changed since Jesus’ time realy! 

 So some questions: 

 What situations have you been in where you felt you didn’t quite fit in?

 In what ways have you conformed to respectability?

 What do you make of the passage from Mark 12:17?

 How has church/BeachcomebrFX become respectable?

How can we live more God centered radical lives?

Peace, Rob

 

Family!?

Hi folks, I hope you re ok, this week we will be meeting at the Crescent Club at 8.00pm in the upstairs front bar, hope to see you there!

We continue our themes based around the film, The Greatest Showman, this week we are thinking about family.

One of the interesting things about the Greatest Showman is that amongst the traditional nuclear family of Barnum, Charity and their two children, is a larger question around those he pulled together to join him. Does this offer a wider understanding of an extended family? We see this as these outsiders and outcasts gather to join the circus, and more powerfully it is demonstrated near the end of the movie when the circus is threatened and then destroyed.

There are numerous ways to consider family. For a first century Jew like Jesus, the way we have configured family life would be rather confusing to him. In a world where Greek and Roman ideas of family were structured around a dominant male, who was owner and keeper of the estate. In other words it was more than just wife and kids… it was about servants and slaves and even kids conceived other than with his wife! In other words it was larger than the ‘normal’ family that we would understand. 

How then do we read the bible with this context around family life? The Rich Young Ruler in Luke 9:60, says… “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” But, maybe he had no choice? A Greek perception would be that he would be obligated to wait for his father’s death before walking away…

Or the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32, here the Father would demand total obedience from his sons… but yet he lets him go, this would be so out of the norm… and so perhaps we can understand the older son’s reaction. With this in mind, it seems Jesus is more interested in how people follow God, than commit to family, although it does seem really harsh! So in Matthew 12:46-50 we read “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.””

All in all, Jesus is radical in every aspect… even the family…

Some questions then:

Tell us about your favourite family member…

What is ‘family’ to you?

How does a different way to understand family affect the way we look at the bible?

If the concept of family life as described in the bible is larger, how could that impact the way we live and operate in church? 

Peace, Rob

Dreams!

Hi folks I hope you are well! This week we are meeting at the Salt Cove which is part of the Park Hotel on the sea front, meeting at 8.00pm, we hope to see you there.

Here we are in lent! How did that happen!? Over lent we are going to be looking at some themes from a little devotional book based around the film The Greatest Showman. You won’t have to have seen the film to engage with the themes, but I would encourage you to watch it as it might help.

This week I want to talk about dreams! Dreams have fascinated humanity for decades, from the earliest of civilisations who tried to interpret dreams, to the bible, and beyond. Sleeping dreams are part of everyones experience, the average adult has between 3 and 5 dreams each night, lasting between a few seconds to twenty or thirty minutes! It is a normal part of what it is be human… but what they mean… well, that’s another issue all together!

We know that many folks have tried to interpret dreams. The people of God thought that God would speak to them directly through them. Freud and Jung also had a go, saying that they reveal the deep desires of the unconscious. Even the musician Ray Charles had something to say about them… “dreams, if they are any good, are always a little bit crazy!”

In the movie Barnum and Charity live as people with ‘a million dreams,’ and so these are the catalyst for new possibilities for himself and others. But we also note that it’s often really difficult to hold on to dreams in the cut and thrust of life, as the movie shows.

Jesus also offers a dream if you will, a dream or vision of the Kingdom of God that he encourages us to get involved with! And so in the New Testament we read this from the book of Acts:

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

Here in this scripture, we are asked to dare to live and act on these words… a tough yet exhilarating dream!

Some questions…

What was your last dream that you can remember?

What dreams did you have growing up? Have they come to fruition?

Which biblical dream sequences come to mind?

What does this passage from Acts say to you?

Peace, Rob

Oscar stories

Hi folks, I hope you are all well? This week we are meeting in the upstairs front lounge of the Crescent Club in Cullercoats, if you are able to join us we gather from 8.00pm. 

This week I want to talk about the Oscars, they celebrate the talents of actresses and actors and everything around the film industry. I like to know who’s won what and such like. I also like to hear what folks say as they receive their awards and what they say around the red carpet. In amongst the emotion and the congratulations there are the odd moments of challenge and inspiration. 

 There were two that struck me… the first one involved Constance Wu. She was being interviewed on the red carpet about her film ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, she said it was an “historic” moment, as it saw a major studio telling a story centred on her experience as an Asian-American. She went on to say that she wanted to let young women “know they can be heroes of their own stories and their stories are worthy and interesting and people want to know them”.

 The second involved Rami Malek as he accepted his award for best actor for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody. He said the film might offer hope to those struggling with their identities, “we made a film about a gay man, an immigrant, who lived his life unapologetically himself… the fact that I’m celebrating him and this story with you is proof that we’re longing for stories like this”.

 The thing that struck me about both of these is that they both mention stories… Wu says that we should ‘be heroes in our own stories’, and Malek ‘that we’re longing for stories like this’.

 Stories are such a huge part of life, and we spend our life exploring them. Whether it’s listening to each other in conversation, watching TV or listening to the radio and as we read. And of course we often interact with stories, they can move us and leave us fearful or cold and any number of emotions. 

 

The Bible is also full of great stories that reflect the full array of human life and also try to help us understand the story of God.

 So some questions…

 What was your favourite story growing up?

 What do you notice about these two quotes? 

 What does it mean for you to be a hero of your own story?

 What kind of stories would you like to hear? 

 What is your favourite story from the bible?

 

Peace, Rob.

Hallelujah!

Hi folks, I hope you folks are good! This week we are meeting at Hugos in Tynemouth, at 8.00pm. We hope to see you there.  The following is based around some resources I came across. 

When we look at the bible we see that it is full of stories of flawed, weird, wonderful and desperate people, all trying to get through life the best they can. Some cling on to God, others struggle and are hounded by regret, heartache and desire… It sounds a lot like us! All of these themes are found in many songs that we listen to. Leonard Cohen wrote a great song, called Hallelujah. Why not check out this live version… 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q It’s stunning! 

Hallelujah directly references 2 Samuel 11 in the second verse and uses a range of other biblical imagery, including a reference to Judges 16, when Samson allows his hair to be cut. Cohen does not see these moments of profound weakness or moral failing as a means of cutting ourselves off from the divine. Instead he imagines them as moments where even in the midst of despair – we can glimpse God. 

These lines are from Cohen’s song: “And it’s not a cry that you hear at night / It’s not somebody who’s seen the light / It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah” 

So some questions… 

When and where do you listen to music? 

What is your experience of praying and listening to music at the same time?

How do you feel about a “cold” and “broken” Hallelujah? 

Have you ever found yourself saying a cold and broken Hallelujah? 

What do you think Cohen is getting at here? 

Peace, Rob 

What i believe about…

Hi folks, i hope you are ok… some of us are away this weekend, but for those who are still around, we will be meeting at the Crescent Club from 8.00pm.

 

As part of our weekend away, we will be looking at the topic… what i believe about… we will be thinking about issues around belief… what does it mean for us to believe today? have we become more about right beliefs that we have missed what Jesus was getting at… Why not ponder on that…

 

We will also be thinking about what I believe about social media… What does it mean to be authentically you in the online space? Is it possible? What do you like about social media? where are its problems…

 

We hope to see those that can make it on sunday night.

 

Peace.

Photos…

Hi folks, I hope you have had a good week. This week we are meeting at the Dog and Rabbit, meeting at 8.o0. I hope you can make it. This weeks reflection comes after the Sony World Photography shortlist was announced.

There are some stunning pictures on here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-47130038 why not take a look…

Which of these images inspires you?

Which of these images makes you want to ask more questions…

Peace, Rob

Ideas!?

Hi folks, I trust you are well, this week we are meeting at the Crescent Club at 8.00pm, meeting in the upstairs front bar. You would be very welcome to join us if you are able. Over the years we have covered a number of topics and subjects, from the environment, to politics, war, justice, community, and of course issues around the Christian faith. In the midst of the topics there has been a sense of wanting to try and grow a sense of community, either live or online.

This week I want to hear from you… what are the themes you would love to discuss? What ways could we develop themes, and explore issues. I wonder to, if you had a crystal ball what kind of themes, issues we could be facing in the future? I also wonder what kind of God questions are you asking?

Why not come along on Sunday night and share what you think…

Peace, Rob

Music…

Hi folks, this week we are meeting at the Kittiwake, it would be great to see you if you are around, meeting from 8.00pm. This weeks reflection comes from Glenn.

Have you ever played in a band?
If you could play in any band which one would it be?
What’s the most important part of a band?
If you haven’t watched the video, please do, now!

Ok, if you weren’t moved by that, please check your pulse, you may be dead.
The power of music to inspire and move never ceases to amaze me. However that’s not necessarily the point I want to take from the video. Getting 4 or 5 people together to play, in time, agreeing on the song and enjoying themselves can be a minor miracle, never mind 1000. Look at their faces, just look at their faces, so much joy. Driven by one song and rocking it. What can we learn from this for the church? Are we driven by one song? Do we like the song that is playing?
Musical differences have been the downfall off many bands, you all have to be focused in the same direction. You have to listen to each other. The lead singer and guitarists may think they are the legends but if they don’t listen to the rhythm section, everyone suffers. How do we put the band back together, how do we rock the world?