One of the most disheartening reports from any war are injuries from friendly fire. Time and time again we hear about brothers in arms hurting and sometimes killing each other. In war it must be a horrible feeling to find out you have wounded one of your own team.

In many Churches, it is not so obvious.

The truth is that some of us spend so much time sniping at each other but because the wounds are not physical we feel little remorse. The desire to be right is far more appealing than the desire to be humble. Debates about doctrine draw us in to present our own opinion above all others, including the Bible. I wonder how much richer our lives would be if we invested that time in the promotion of the gospel of Christ rather than our own perverted gospels?

At the end of the day Christians are all on the same page, or at the very least the same book. Perhaps if we realised we all look out from that book in slightly different directions, and that that is something to be celebrated rather than feared, we could get on with our mission more effectively.

Galatians 6:10 “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

In Luke 2 v49 we find Jesus replying to his parents as recorded in The Message: “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” Jesus had put God’s work as his first priority. The question facing us is where do we put God in our daily order of priorities? And how honest are we going to be in answering it? Do we put him first in all things?

We have responsibilities to our family and employer if we are still working but do we sit down with our Father and sort out how He wants us to plan the activities we are involved in. Jesus knew His priorities but do we? And if we do are they in line with His?

To be able to make the right choice we must have clear and consistent communication with our Lord and know Him as our Father anchored by grace and mercy in his family. When we are sure of our position in Him we will find He will show us the order in which He wants us progress and how he will lead us to achieve them. As we follow Him and obey His commands He will show us the results that will be mind blowing.

Clarity of vision means clarity of purpose so that every time we step outside the front door we will recognise that we are going out and about on God’s business. As we make our journeys we are going to see how He is giving us constant encouragement as His agents for change.

Jesus knew His priorities and vision and through Him so can we. Are you up for the challenge that he has given?

The battle is not won on microphones in venues with fancy walls. It is not won on the pages of new books or amongst the words of blogs like these. Like almost everything that has ever been, these words will fade like fireworks in the distance. Indeed the fingers that churn out the letters will one day be void of blood, and my bones will diminish into the ground from which they came.

The battle is not won amidst the scenes of powerful short films or across the airwaves on succinct podcasts and confident declarations. Our victory will not be found in atmospheric conferences loaded with the passion of the young and the wisdom of the old.

The battle is not won on the lips of foreign speakers building new kingdoms on the foundations of their ancestors. Our victory will not be found across the spine of new doctrines or in the eyes of newly elected bishops.

In fact, the battle is not even fought on external platforms. The battle is a silent one, raging non stop in one place only. The battle is fought right here on this bench, three inches below my collar bone, beneath my flesh and bones. Indeed, though we surround ourselves with the constant noise of Western Christianity, the battle for every man is fought silently in his heart.

Let’s be careful we do not allow our Christian faith to be carried by the external noises of those around us, but rather let it grow honestly in our unique walk with Christ. If we cannot face the Lord with thanksgiving, praise and worship when nobody is watching, then we need to question if our faith is ours at all.

This month Canon Roger Simpson said: “You’ll never have peace of mind unless you have peace with God”. And to that end I say Amen and Amen again.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Peace

Peter Crouch put a dent in Manchester City’s title challenge as his outstanding long-range volley helped Stoke to a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium. However, Manchester United went three points clear at the top after winning 1-0 against Fulham last night.

Bolton won a key match in their fight against relegation, beating Blackburn 2-1 on Saturday. It was clear before the match that emotions were running high in what was Bolton’s first match since last weekend’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham in which Fabrice Muamba collapsed and was rushed to hospital.

Chelsea and Tottenham played out a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge. Ashley Cole made a goal-line block in the final seconds of a dire first half to keep the Tottenham out and Gary Cahill slid in to deny Emmanuel Adebayor after he had rounded Petr Cech.

Celtic missed out on the opportunity to win the Scottish Premier League title with seven games of the season remaining, losing the final Old Firm derby of the season 3-2 away at Rangers.

Three players were sent off – two from Celtic and one from Rangers – as well as Celtic boss Neil Lennon. Rangers made their numerical advantage pay as they took a three-goal lead before Scott Brown and Thomas Rogne scored for Celtic in the dying moments.

Fernando Alonso won the Malaysian Grand Prix in stormy conditions on Sunday. Alonso’s Ferrari built a sizeable lead while the track was wet but he was nearly caught by Sauber’s Sergio Perez as the track dried. Lewis Hamilton finished third for the second time in first two Grand Prix’s of the season. Jenson Button, who won last week’s season-opening race in Australia, finished 14th.

Reigning Super League champions Leeds were humbled at St. Helens on Sunday evening, going down 46-6. Saints ran in eight tries in all in their first fixture since the sacking of coach Royce Simmons. Ade Gardner, Gary Wheeler and Jonny Lomax both scored two tries each.

Warrington now lead the Super League table with a tight 22-20 win away at Wigan. Huddersfield dropped into second after losing 40-22 at Hull KR.

Tiger Woods won his first PGA tour title in two and a half years, finishing five shots ahead of Graeme McDowell to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Florida.

Andy Murray made it through to the last sixteen of the Miami Masters after opponent Milos Raonic pulled out before the match with an ankle injury. He will face Gilles Simon on Tuesday.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both progressed to the second week of the competition with wins over Ryan Harrison and Marcos Baghdatis respectively. Federer will play Andy Roddick and Djokovic takes on Viktor Troicki.

The world of darts mourns the death of Jocky Wilson, who died on Saturday evening after battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

It’s pretty much the law that when Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the radio, every man has to lose the plot. It’s a bit more tricky when you’re driving. However, an aggressive thrashing of the head is still obligatory nonetheless. 

I had been skipping radio stations like a dog chewing on a remote control as I headed to CVM HQ on Wednesday. It felt like a thousand years since I had heard any station play a decent song, but then it arrived. (I’ve never had a visitation by an angel, but I can’t imagine it would have been much better than hearing the first lines: “Is this the real life, Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality…” )

My head began to follow the tones of one of the greatest bands ever to have graced the stage. And halfway through the song, the listener gets to say hello to one of the most epic guitar riffs this side of Neptune. My head began to thrash more powerfully than the meat wagons flying down the M18.

I did everything right. I turned the volume up, I positioned my car in a safe place in the road, and I fell in sync with every other man who was listening to BBC Radio Two at that time.

What I hadn’t accounted for was the bus full of school teenagers beside me. Ah, yes, the giddiness of young people on a school trip. Unfortunately, the entire one side of the vehicle were watching me throw my head back and forth like a duck being battered with a crow bar.

As I meandered down the motorway, away from the mocking teenagers, I began to laugh at myself. And then my laughter became out and out hysterics.

Call me twee, but I pictured my creator laughing with me. We rarely picture God as a personal being with emotions, but the Bible clearly teaches us that God is full of life. And as he sees the whole of time stretched out before him like a till roll, he would have known exactly what was going to happen in my car on Wednesday. And as insignificant as that moment was, I’d like to think that God the Father, and the Lord Jesus, were taking a moment to laugh at the their son, and clown, me.

But whatever the case may be, I’ll leave you with this: “I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, because I’m easy come, easy go, little high, little low, any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me… to me.”

Peace.

I was born in 1940, by 1955 I was in a skiffle group playing the tea chest! Then along came the ‘Boomers’, those born 1944-64. They developed our musical ideas and invented rock and roll along with the pill, computers, hydraulic excavators and even digital drum kits!!

Those post-war-bulge babies are now retiring, they have plenty of money, energy, ideas, imagination, management experience, social skills … they certainly don`t think they are ‘old’, they just embarrass their kids, as we always have!

The ‘Boomers’ are the last generation who went to Sunday School and Crusaders in large numbers, they know a little about the life and ministry of Jesus, they know that Easter is more than eggs. They drifted away from church for a variety of reasons, it was not relevant, their gifts were not being used, it was boring.

How do we re-engage those who have a residual Christian faith but have left church? Many have a nostalgia for their past, they have explored alternative spiritualities and found them empty. They are talented and experienced and are looking for a challenge and adventure. They are looking for a lot more than an invitation to a ‘guest service’, this is far too passive for most.

But they might well respond to a partnership in social or development projects, to work alongside the church community to the benefit of our localities. If you make disciples, you’ll always get the church. But if you make the church, you rarely get disciples.

When Jesus said that He ‘no longer calls us servants but friends’, he must have known He was in for trouble. He must have known that most of us would use this as an opportunity to do what we do best – thinking we know best. That most of us would treat Him as though He has actually said “I no longer call you servants but boss”.

We seem to have an uncanny knack of telling God how He should be, what He should do and who He is allowed to bless. We mastermind His every move and then wonder why things don’t turn out the way we expected.

And that’s the real rub isn’t it? Things not turning out how we expect. The world would be a much better place if things turned out that way I expected all the time. A much better place… for me at least.

Out of all the people who have walked this earth Jesus could have felt this way more than anyone. Fully God, fully human, yet fully committed to doing only what He saw the Father doing. Let’s remember we are the tools in God’s hands not the brains behind His plans.

Wales completed a third Six Nations grand slam in eight years after beating France 16-9 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Wales took a first-half lead through an Alex Cuthbert try which proved to be the only one of the match. Two second-half penalties from Leigh Halfpenny helped Wales to maintain their seven-point lead with France unable to make a breakthrough.

The result put an end to England’s faint title hopes finished before their evening kick off against Ireland at Twickenham. Despite having nothing to play for, England’s inexperienced side were excellent in a 30-9 victory.

The sides traded penalties in a scrappy first half before England stepped things up after the break. Owen Farrell converted a penalty try and with seven minutes remaining Ben Youngs’ quick thinking from a penalty England a second try.

In the day’s early game, Italy beat Scotland 13-6 to finish avoid finishing bottom of the table for the first time since 2007 and condemn their opponents to an embarrassing whitewash.

Leicester held off Northampton Saints to win the LV= Cup final 26-14. Teenager George Ford impressed at fly-half with an excellent kicking performance.

The weekend’s football was overshadowed by tragic scenes at White Hart Lane, where Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest. His condition is described as “stable”, but critical. The FA Cup quarter-final was abandoned after Muamba left for hospital with the score at 1-1.

Chelsea’s upturn in fortunes under the stewardship of Roberto di Matteo continued in their tie at home to Leicester City. Fernando Torres ended his notoriously barren spell in front of goal, scoring twice in a 5-2 victory to end a run of more than 24 hours without scoring. Chelsea will face the winners of the rearranged tie between Spurs and Bolton.

Liverpool set up a potential all-Merseyside semi-final with victory over Stoke at Anfield on Sunday thanks to Stewart Downing’s 57^th-minute winner. Everton will have to beat Sunderland in a replay at the Stadium of Light if they are to meet their rivals in the semi-final after they drew 1-1 with Sunderland.

Manchester United increased their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points over Manchester City with a comfortable 5-0 win against Wolves at Molinieux.

With the scores at 1-0, Wolves full-back Ronald Zubar was sent off for a second bookable offence and his side crumbled after his departure. Javier Hernandez scored twice in a contest which at times resembled a training match for the defending champions.

A man-of-the-match performance from Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell helped his side upset the odds to defeat Celtic 1-0 in the Scottish Communities League Cup final. Dieter van Tornhout gave Kilmarnock the lead in the dying minutes and Celtic’s Anthony Stokes was booked for diving for what looked like a foul in the Kilmarnock penalty area.

The 2012 Formula One season kicked off in Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday morning and the high-profile British drivers had a promising start to their seasons. Jenson Button won ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton who finished in third, with defending champion Sebastian Vettel between the two.

Luke Donald returned to the top of golf’s world rankings with victory in the Transitions Championship in Florida. Donald won a first playoff hole after finishing tied on 13 under with Robert Garrigus, Jim Furyk and Sang-Moon Bae.

Requiring victory to reclaim the number one spot, Donald started his final round three shots behind Furyk and Retief Goosen but registered five birdies in seven holes around the turn to claw back the deficit.

In the Super League, St Helens head coach Royce Simmons was sacked after a 12-8 defeat at Bradford which left them in ninth, with five points from seven games. The entire top half of the table won over the weekend, so Huddersfield retain their position as league leaders ahead of Warrington, Wigan, Leeds and Catalan Dragons with a 32-30 win over Wakefield.

David Murrow (author of ‘Why Men Hate Going To Church’) has discovered a church that has taken on the challenge of appealing to men with amazing results. Grace United Methodist learned how to grow again – without abandoning its traditions. You won’t find a drum set in this church – but you will find men. Lots of men.

It can be really difficult for church leaders to attract men into their churches, and even tougher for female church leaders, but here we have an example that many can learn from.

Watch this short film and see what you might be able to apply to your own church

I couldn’t believe it; he was sat up against the cash machine. I’ve never been offended by those who ask for ‘spare change’ but this guy was actually sitting against the dispenser. I was tempted to walk around the corner to a different bank but I wasn’t going to change direction for anyone.

I approached the machine and smiled at the man. His hair hung at different lengths like an old mop. His eyes were bloodshot, with a strange expression of happiness. I assumed he must be under the influence of something illegal.

“Morning” I said quietly. Secretly I was hoping my pleasantry would mute any further conversation between the two of us. The man smiled at me as I took £20 from the annoyingly slow machine. I began to walk away when the man spoke. “After all I’ve done for you mate,” he said.

I don’t know why his remark annoyed me, but it did. In fact, it made me angry enough to stop dead in my tracks on Parliament Street. What on earth did this guy mean ‘After all I’ve done for you’?

I glanced over my shoulder with an air of nonchalance and met the man’s vacant stare. “Are you serious?” I asked him.

As there were no people around us, I thought I’d embark upon a conversation with this intriguing character. It had been a long time since I’d gone toe to toe with someone clearly in the wrong.

“It’s ok, you’ve nothing to worry about mate,” he said. Though his manner was one of peace, he may as well have been screaming at me through a microphone, because everything he said was making me wince with anger. It wasn’t the fact he had positioned himself by the cash machine. It wasn’t the fact he was overtly trying to entice people to part with their hard-earned cash. It was the fact that he was insinuating that I actually owed him something. For all he knew I might have been withdrawing cash to pay a ransom for some poor soul overseas.

“I’m not worried old friend,” I said. “However, I am interested to know what you mean.” As I stood over him like a schoolteacher approaching a kid in the naughty chair, I noticed he was clutching dirty tissues in each hand. (An obvious sign of an addiction there.)

He calmly replied: “I would stand up, but I find it uncomfortable, you can sit with me if you like.”

Incredible, in just three sentences this man offended me financially, emotionally and physically. When does anyone have the time to sit on the pavement and chat to a stranger in the middle of a working day? I’m all for social action, don’t get me wrong, but I’m also a big fan of working hard. And I’m paid to work hard.

“I’d love to sit and have a chat mate, but I’m in work at the moment. But feel free tell me what you mean by everything you’ve done for me.”

The man shuffled towards me like an injured dog. I crouched down to make myself look like I wasn’t too far above his status, which he seemed to appreciate.

“I’ve make myself available for businessmen, that’s all. Look mate, a lot of people are busy these days, I know that. But that’s why I’ve been making myself available for chats.”

I should have kept my mouth shut and walked away, but I couldn’t resist. “So you just happen to be sitting next to the busiest cash machine in York then.”

“No, this is intentional” he said.

“So why did you intend to sit here then mate?” I replied.

“Because most people are addicted to money these days, there’s always people here to chat with.”

Ok I’ll be honest; he won that round fair and square. I didn’t doubt for a second that he was simply a beggar interested solely in getting my money, but I definitely underestimated his level of eloquence.

I repositioned myself like a boxer preparing his final round of attack. I took a deeper breath than usual before responding. However, milliseconds before I unleashed my rebuttal, I saw that the tissues he was clutching in his hands were wet. On a closer inspection, I saw that it wasn’t dirt covering the rags, but blood. He’d been stabbed.

“Mate, you need a doctor, come on I’ll give you a lift to the hospital.” He smiled at me again.

“It’s not funny mate, you’re losing a lot of blood, we need to go,” I shouted.

The man looked at both his hands before using the side of the cash point to get to his feet. It seemed to take an age. He wasn’t wearing any shoes either, what a clown. Suddenly, I began to feel pangs of guilt. Moments earlier I was actually about to unleash the dogs of war on this disabled homeless man. I thought I’d cancel out my feelings of guilt by getting this guy to hospital. (That’s how my sin usually works, one good deed to erase the bad.)

He stood at about six feet tall and looked directly at me. Despite standing in severe discomfort, he still showed no signs of anxiety. He put his bloodied hand on my right shoulder, and said: “It’s ok Alex, these wounds are old. I didn’t mean any offence by what I said earlier. I just want you to know that I’m available for a chat if you’d like. Take it easy.”

He limped off with blood trailing behind him. I saw an open wound in his side and thorns in the back of his head. I looked towards where he’d been sat and saw an old sign that read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” In the distance there were countless armies singing his name. Crowds from every tribe and nation were on their knees on the horizon. I stared at the wet the crimson path and longed for another chance to chat with my saviour.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For 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.’

Peace.