DEEPER

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper than the trendy song
Deeper than some feel good rhetoric
Deeper than a song, a sermon, you’re gone.

We walk across the town square on a mission.
To a coffee shop for a fashionable bevy.
But miss the history, the mystery of this place
I state my case.

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper than another moment missed.
Deeper than a useful relationship
Deeper than another backside kissed.

There’s a smell of temporary in the air.
Nothing made to last or made to matter.
Convenient and quick is what we’re after
Human disaster.

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper than a face that fits the bill
Deeper than a suitable impression
Deeper cause we found that looks can kill

We discuss the crunch that’s come to end the party
We pass the hungry beggar on the street.
A worry fuelled walk cause we’ve got much to lose
But we do have shoes

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper to a different kind of sharing
Deeper to a love that shouts aloud
Deeper till we find a way of caring

We argue over every jot and tittle
Like our opinion is the one that really matters
Humility is a tough old pie to swallow
Easier to stay hollow

We have to go Deeper
Deeper than semantic arguments
Deeper than the way we’ve always done it
Deeper than our sentimental bents



And we think we have this whole thing figured
Everything in it’s box neat and tidy.
But there’s a teacher knocking at the door
Wants to show us more.

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper to a different kind of learning
Deeper to a different kind of knowing
Deeper cause I sense the Spirit calling

And it doesn’t look impressive on the surface.
‘Why aren’t you stretching wider, higher, man?’
But I’ve given up on all the endless striving
I’ve started diving.

We have to go Deeper.
Deeper where the truth is found
Deeper where we walk with God
Deeper where we dare not make a sound

Deeper.

Trust the kings or Trust The King

Psalm 2 is a good read.
Especially on those days when you might feel as though the world is a little shakey. There have been so many words used in the media over the past week or two. Crisis. Crunch. Meltdown. Slump. Fear. Panic. Abyss.

These are powerful, emotive words.

We are born into a world system.
A way of getting things done.
Our lives are tangled up and interwoven and it seems as though our only hope of survival is for the system to work. We feel (and feelings are a huge part of this) as though it's our Life Support System. If it fails we fail, right?

Wrong.
So wrong.

There is a God who sits in the heavens and laughs as the kings of the earth take counsel together. Don't get me wrong. We need to pray for our national leaders and ask God to give them wisdom and soft god fearing hearts. We need to pray that they might 'Kiss the Son'.
We certainly should honor leadership.
But we must not put our faith in the kings. We dare not look to them as our source, our strength, our hope for the future.

There is one King who alone is worthy of trust.

God sits in the heavens and laughs. He's not worried. He's not panicking. He's not surprised or undone in any way.
I think that these are exciting times.
It's time to choose which Kingdom you will serve in.
Which Kingdom you will trust.

I choose THE KING.

STRUCTURE IN CHURCH. Important or not?

It’s an interesting time to be a Christian isn’t it? The Church around the world seems at times to be sitting uncomfortably as it wrestles with it’s identity.
One of the most hotly disputed topics is that of structure within the Church. I recently read an article in which the Author suggested that what we need to do is get rid of man made structures in the Church and let God “have His way”.
He suggested that the Church would be more powerful if we would "wait on the Lord" and give Him time.

I would agree that often our structures have become so rigid that God can’t get a look in. I would also agree that times of waiting on the Lord are desperately needed. However we need to look to the scriptures to inform us of the whole picture.

There seems to be a lot of people in the Church these days that want to do away with all forms of structure, believing them to hinder the Holy Spirit. In fact the early Church actually spent time putting structures into place and bringing some sense of order to the wonderful way the Spirit was moving.

It's true that in Acts ch 2 the disciples waited in the upper room for the Spirit to be poured out (verses 1 – 4). But it's also true that later in the same chapter they started to build 'practices' into their lives (verses 42 – 47). The teaching of the Apostles Doctrine, Fellowship, The Breaking of Bread, Prayer, Giving to the poor, Worshiping God all became regular activities - as well as signs and wonders!

Then Paul proceeds to write half the New Testament to address issues of Leadership, How to interact with each other, How to behave in public gatherings, Developing personal Character and so on.

I fear that we live in a time where some Charismatics want all the thrills and spills - but aren't so keen on being taught the Word, learning to live holy lives and developing Christ-like Character. 'study time' sounds more boring than 'carpet time'.
Planned services sound less spiritual than unplanned times.

Perhaps too often we want our services to be ‘other worldly’ instead of inviting the Holy Spirit to meet us in our humanness. The Scriptures teach us to be responsible in all things. They teach that we are stewards and that we have to think long and hard about why we do the things we do. Planning and structure are not of themselves prohibitive to the work of the Holy Spirit but actually helpful in enabling us to move forward together if our planning is sensitive to The Spirit.

I am Charismatic believer and am passionately committed to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I want to see God move in our churches and bring Glory to Himself. But let's not fall for the idea that you can only have the Holy Spirit by getting rid of all structure.
That idea is both un-scriptural and dangerous.

A Nature Like Ours

This coming Sunday I'm preaching on the subject of prayer.
Our Church is in a series on prayer right now and I'm going to be speaking about the importance of persistence.

I was studying those verses in James Chapter 5 v 17 & 18.
Here's what it says:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced it's fruit.

When you first read those verses it sounds so simple. So easy. As though Elijah just rolled out of bed, had a cup of tea, said a quick prayer and 'BOOM!' his prayers were answered!
But if you turn in the scriptures to 1 Kings Ch 17 & 18 you can read the whole account in all it's glorious detail.

You see, Elijah was a man 'with a nature like ours'.
This is so encouraging.

He's not superman.
He doesn't get everything right first time.
He does experience great supernatural miracles; A famine, the raising of a dead child and fire from heaven on Mount Carmel to name a few.
He also has his human moments.
Running for his life.
Hiding.
Wishing he would just die.

And we can be like that can't we? Trusting God one day and doubting Him the next.

And here's where persistence comes in. Even when Elijah does see the great answers to his prayers, they don't always happen the first time he prays. When he's faced with the tragic death of the widow's son with whom he's lodging, Elijah prays for a miracle. But it doesn't happen the first time he prays. It takes him three goes before the child is raised back to life.

And later in Chapter 18 it's time for Elijah to pray so that it will rain on the land again. He's told the King that it's going to rain so he prays. And nothing happens.
Nothing.
No rain.
Not even a light shower.
Not even a cloud.
Nothing.

So Elijah prays again.
Nothing.

So he prays again.
Nothing.

This whole scene is repeated again and again.

And the seventh time that he prays he gets his prayer answered.
I'm so grateful that the Scriptures tell us the whole story, not just sound bytes of victory.
Elijah, the man with a nature like ours does see breakthroughs. He does see answered prayer.
But it's in the context of persistence; of not quitting.

So whatever you're up to today. Keep persisting.

Steve.

A Great Weekend

We just hosted singer/songwriter Nicki Rogers at our Church.

www.nickirogers.com

I've known Nicki for a few years now and I'm always amazed at how such a big voice comes out of such a small body! I'm also constantly impressed by her ability to connect with an audience. Saturday night she did a concert and then Sunday morning led some worship and allowed me to interview her.

The interview was great, letting people connect with her journey.
And her songs were fantastic as always.
You can listen to that interview and hear my message here
http://christianlifechurch.podbean.com/
(it should be there in a couple days).

I'm also planning a tour with Nicki in Sept/Oct, so look out for details of that.

Me and my heart.

This morning I had a hospital appointment.
I had to go to the Cardiology and Respiratory Unit to get wired up for a 24 hour ECG.
More of that in a minute - but let me tell you a humorous side of the story...

My appointment was for 10.30am.
So I got out of bed nice and early and just did a few jobs here and there. And then before I knew it
it was 10.15 !
I jumped in my car and drove as fast as I could to the hospital, which wasn't that fast because I kept getting stuck
behind slow drivers. So I started getting stressed and flustered.
I got to the hospital car park for 10.25
The problem was that I couldn't find anywhere to park and so I scrapped that Idea and drove further down the street
to park. Now I was really stressed... and it was 10.27
I started walking back towards the hospital but quickly realized that I wasn't moving fast enough - so I started to run.
I ran as fast as I could and made it to the hospital by 10.29 out of breath - heart racing...
Inside the hospital I discovered that the Cardiology Unit was located on the First Floor and so I ran up the stairs.

As I walked into the Unit the irony was not lost on me.
Running, stressed and breathless to an appointment at the Cardiology Unit!
It did make me smile.

Now in case your worried that i might have a serious health issue - relax.
I'm not planning on checking out just yet.

What I have is some kind of Arrhythmia. An Irregular Heart Rhythm that flairs up from time to time.
Most days my heart beats nice and normally. But sometimes it decides to beat in a really peculiar way and when it does it's not very pleasant.
So I'm having this 24hr ECG so they can keep an eye on what's happening.

I've had this condition (on and off) for 10 years and most of the time I don't even think about it.
But when it happens things just feel 'weird' in my chest.
One Doctor explained it to me like this. He said that there's a part of my heart that's responsible for pacemaking. It's job is to keep my heart beating in proper time and rhythm. But Occasionally another part of my heart tries to take over pacemaking duties. These two parts of my heart then are in competition. That's when my rhythm becomes irregular.

And that brings me to the real point of this blog.
You see I think what I've just described might be a really good picture of what happens in our spiritual heart.
When we give our lives to Christ and surrender our hearts to him, our hearts start beating to the Rhythm of His Spirit. We have a new nature and a new rhythm. All is well. We are at one with God and we have a sense that everything is OK.
But there's this other part of us.
The Flesh.
The Carnal Nature.
And it has a different rhythm. A different agenda.
And it will try to take over the pacemaking duties of our hearts.
And if we allow it, we end up with a kind of Spiritual Arrhythmia.

Two different parts of your inner world competing to regulate your inner heart beat.
So you worship one minute.
And lust the next.

And feel 'weird'.

The good news is that we don't have to live with spiritual arrhythmia.
We can choose to put to death the old pacemaking attempts of the flesh.
Each day we can choose to say "Jesus, have your way in my life."
"Let my heart beat with the rhythm of heaven"

Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.

So here's to our hearts. May they beat for Jesus - always.

SP.

CHRISTMAS TOUR (part four)

They think it's all over... it is now.

The final weekend of Christmas dates went quickly and well.
I spent a lot of hours behind the wheel, driving from the North to the South of the country and back again.

The concerts were really enjoyable.
In Lytham I played to a small crowd in the SOURCE Coffee Shop. It was the first concert that the guys who run the shop had organized and it was a privilege to be first in line. Even though the crowd was small, they were appreciative and listened intently as I made my way through the set. All was going great until right at the end I started to rapidly lose my voice. I think it was just 'dried out' from not drinking enough fluids and spending a lot of time lately in Central Heated rooms.
I had to abruptly end the concert when my voice packed in altogether - the people took it well.

So I was a little apprehensive as I drove the next day to Seaford to reunite with Dan for a concert in his local Church. I drank gallons of water all day. The only problem with that was that what goes in has to come out and so I was constantly stopping for bathroom breaks during the long drive.
I didn't need to worry though as my voice recovered well in time for the concert. Neither did I need to worry about the drying effects of the Church heating system as on my arrival I found out that the Church boiler was broken and so we did the concert in the cold. The audience were brilliant though and sat through our set in their hats and coats (one guy was even wearing shorts...!) while we tried to feel our fingers so that we could actually play. We didn't need a smoke machine - people breathing in the cold air had a similar effect...
The church also provided a dazzling array of desserts after the concert which we gladly helped consume.

The next day we moved on to Lakenheath.
I've known the dear folk at Abundant Life Church in Lakenheath for many years now and all I can say is that they are some of the most gracious and warm people I know.
They always listen, they always encourage me and they know how to laugh.
Before the concert I realized that it was my last gig of 2007. And so I was determined to give it my best. Dan and I played, sang, talked. The people listened, laughed and cried. And afterwards we all ate more delightful food and desserts!
What a great way to end the year.

Driving home I thanked God for another year of ministry. Another year spent singing and speaking to people. I'm amazed that God lets me do this. We'll see what next year brings.

Christmas Tour (part three)

With 4 Dec shows under my belt (2 with Dan) I'm feeling confident about the 3 remaining shows we have this weekend.
It's been really great fun playing different material for a change. I think people forget that when you're an artist, you sing the same songs over and over again to different audiences and have to try and sound fresh each time. That's a challenge in itself without even thinking about all the other aspects of performance.

So with these Christmas songs and some covers, plus a couple of my own new tunes, I don't have to try to sound fresh - because I'm just enjoying it anyway.

One of the highlights of our gigs has been the "Cheesy Christmas Medley Sing-a-long" where the audiences have enthusiastically sung their hearts out to a selection of Christmas pop classics. In fact that section of the concert has gone down a little too well...
Maybe Dan and I are missing our true calling.
I can see it now.
Glitter...
Big hair...
Any hair...
A Christmas number one...

Back to reality - which isn't difficult when you spend most of your life as a self-unemployed musician.
I'm always amazed by some of the perceptions that people have about the UK Christian Music Industry / being a 'pro' Christian artist.
Some dear people seem to think that we sell thousands of CD's a week, tour on a tour bus, get paid handsomely and live a dreamy life of luxury. The other day someone baulked when enquiring how much my CD's sell for. "10 quid each" I said.
"how much?!" he said. "er ummm..... 10 pounds...." I mumbled, looking at my shoes.
He didn't buy a CD.

People see you standing on stage playing expensive instruments and fail to grasp that you're still paying for them.
They see you sell a few shiny CD's and think your 'doing alright' - when in fact your still trying to recoup the recording costs.
Dan and I are driving all over the country in our 2nd-hand motors (at 1.06 per litre), eating whatever we're given (we had a rather nice roast at his in-laws at the weekend and a splendid Pizza at Exeter Church), saving money wherever we can in the hope that at the end of this we will have covered our costs, and hopefully made a few quid each to pay the rent and feed our kids. (That's no exaggeration.)
This blog is starting to sound a bit too much like a rant - my apologies.
Sufficient to say that it's a little tougher than some might think.

There are however some wonderful people who understand completely the challenges of what we do and stand by us faithfully. Our Wives are at the top of the list. Friends and Supporters are a needed second.
And then there is God.
He is in a league all on His own.
One thing that constantly amazes me is the Faithfulness of God.
I've been doing this music ministry thing for nearly 15 years now (can you believe I'm that old) and time after time when it seems like there is no way forward; no way to pay the bills; no way of knowing what's next; God shows up.
And He shows up in all sorts of glorious unexpected ways.

A last minute booking.
A cheque in the post.
A phone call from a friend.

Wonderful God.

And that's what Wheeler and me are singing about this Christmas.
At the top of our lungs - wonderful God.

If you live near Lytham, Seaford or Lakenheath come and see us - and say hello - and bring ten quid...

SP.

Christmas Tour (part two)

Last night I had a concert in the sleepy little town of Wadebride and Mr Wheeler finally decided to get over his recent sickness and join me on stage.
It was actually really great to be back working with Dan and the concert seemed to go really well.
You can usually tell if things are going ok because time goes fast.
There's nothing worse than when you're playing to a tough crowd and after playing what feels like 20 songs, you realize that you've only actually been on stage for 15 minutes and it's going to be a long night.

Lat night however was short (even though it was long) so i'm hoping that's a good sign of a happy crowd.

All the venues for these Christmas dates are Churches, and while setting up Dan and I had a chat about the varying quality of Sound Systems / Engineers that you find in Churches.
Last night wasn't too bad to be fair; but we had a bit of a laugh as we recalled stories from our travels of annoying sound systems and frustrating engineers.

(*important note - both Dan and I have worked with some awesome engineers over the years and this blog isn't about any of them... in case they're reading this...)

So here's a list of frustrating sound related issues from touring Churches...

1. When you ask the church if they have a sound system and they tell you that it's state of the art - when you get there you find that it's a 30 year old announcement system (the kid of thing you would find at a cattle market.)

2. When you ask the church if they have a sound system and they tell you "yes no problem" - when you get there they point you to a karaoke machine with a plastic microphone.

3. When the Church has recently spent a fortune on a new sound system but nobody has a clue how to operate it.

4. When someone in the Church thinks they know how to operate it - but they don't. (this is very common)

5. When the person who is mixing sound treats you (the artist) as though you don't know what you're talking about.

6. When the church won't let you touch or move any of it's precious equipment. Everything is labeled and taped to the floor and nothing is to be moved in any way. So you end up singing your song 20 feet from the edge of the stage, hidden behind the podium and a flower pot and seventeen music stands, wedged between the drumkit and the keyboard players 5 keyboards.... and afterwards the Pastor wonders why you weren't 'connecting' with the congregation.

Still, I'm confident that Dan and I won't run into any of those kind of antics tonight.
We're driving to Exeter this afternoon after a nice relaxing morning off.
More Christmas cheer to spread....

Steve.

CHRISTMAS TOUR (part one)

It's December.
This means that Christmas is upon us.
So about 5 months ago I was talking to Dan Wheeler (www.danwheeler.net) and we decided to do some joint concerts in December and spread some Christmas cheer!

Our first bookings were this past weekend in Bollington (my home church) and Poynton which is a town just a few miles away. Nice and local start!
So we made our plans and learned some songs and then the day before our first gig, Dan had to pull out because he has a cold and has lost his voice!
Poor old chap -
lying in bed watching tv while I hold things together...

So the first 2 nights of our 'joint' tour ended up being me solo. Things did go well however and I enjoyed singing some different material. I've reworked some trad christmas tunes and worked up some covers of some modern christmas songs. Also some of my own songs thrown in for good measure.
The crowds haven't been big (50 or 60 people) but they have been warm and appreciative and pulled the best out of me (however good that might be).
A friend of mine called Pete came along and helped me on the second night - which was really handy with him helping to lug sound equipment and instruments around and selling CD's for me. In fact about 15 minutes before I was due to start we realised that I'd left all my CD's at the first church so Pete did a 'super hero' and made a quick dash in his landrover back to fetch them.

So we're off.
It was nice this weekend.
I slept in my own bed and ate at my own table and didn't have to miss my wife and kids.

I will now be bugging Mr Wheeler to get well and recover his voice in time for the next concerts in Cornwall and Devon in 5 days time.
To be honest I can't be too hard on the fella. Last year I had to cancel 2 concerts because I had lost my voice and had Diarrhea. But that's another story...

Living Today

Today is Saturday.
I love Saturday's.
Particularly the Saturdays that I'm not on the road.

I get up in the morning knowing that I don't have to 'deliver'. Saturdays are the day that I just lay back and relax. I watch some tv with my daughter; poodle about in the garden; go get coffee with Danae; I just enjoy the day.

It's too easy in life to either live in the past or in the future.
Living in the past is dangerous because we either become preoccupied with our moments of success or crippled by our moments of failure.
Likewise living in the future is futile as you live your days always striving for some future moment of completeness and miss the very blessings that are under your nose.
To be honest I'm pretty bad at staying present. I'm a dreamer and often find myself looking ahead.

So Saturdays are great for me to just stop and recalibrate.

Not trying to sell CD's.
Not trying to book gigs.
Not trying to change the world.

Just being.

SP.

COMPUTER SCREEN CAREER

I had a revelation today.

It was a shock.

The fact is that I am a computer slave.

Oh the shame of it....


You see today I realised that in order to do my work I have to spend almost every day looking at a computer screen. I write my sermons on a computer. Check my emails on a computer. Let people know about my music on a myriad of websites via the computer. I do my accounts on the computer. Book and track my tour dates on the computer. Design stuff for my Church on the computer. I even record my albums on a computer ( please don't be shocked - it's the way it's done these days).

Yes I had to face it today that I spend hour after hour staring at a computer screen. (Like right now for instance.) I never thought I would do that for a living....

I'm working on some of the Missions record today (on the computer). It's starting to sound good which is really pleasing. Can't wait for you to hear it. I've played a couple of the new songs live lately and the feedback to those songs has been very encouraging. Haven't yet settled on a name for the record so I'm open to suggestions.

see ya,

SP.

Recording "Missions" Project

I've been working away this year at a new CD (probably an EP) which is based around the theme of Mission. The idea of the project is to do something a bit different in that we're going to give all the profits from the sale of the CD's to various Missions / Orphanages.

We're still working on how that's all going to happen but will probably involve the setting up of a Registered Charity to take care
of the distribution of funds. I don't know how much we can raise but hopefully people will by a copy or ten and help us raise some cash for needy people.

The songs that we've tracked so far are sounding really good and I'm excited about getting this project out. Hopefully by the end of the year...

I'm doing most of the recording at my house where I have a studio in what was the Garage. It's a cool set-up and allows me to write and record cheaply - while still retaining some 'sonic quality'. Dan Wheeler and Mark Prentice have added their talents to the project so far and I'll be bringing in a few more friends to help get it finished.
So pray for me.

Album Launch. Can't Wait...

I’m pretty pumped because in a couple of days time we’re going to officially release my latest record. It’s called TEN - acoustic and live.
Here is what it looks like:
(it comes in those cool cardboard digipacks.)




It was a fun project to do and I hope that people 1. Buy it and 2. Enjoy it.
My old friend Dan Wheeler is a real integral part of this recording. It’s just the two of us sitting and playing guitars in front of a small invited crowd. The atmosphere on the night was really good and people waited patiently between songs while we endlessly tuned our guitars (we edited most of the tuning out of the CD...) and Bruce Pont (recording dude man) did a great job of capturing the whole event.

So now comes the seemingly endless process of trying to convince people to part with their hard earned cash and buy a copy. Which is the worst part of making music. Don’t get me wrong, I want my records to sell and I realize that marketing and all that is part of the deal. It’s just that I don’t particularly find it easy to switch hats from ‘artist’ to ‘salesman’. But I give it my best shot because I want to get my music ‘out there’.

It also looks like I’ll be working on two other recording projects this year.
The first will be an EP of songs themed around Mission. More details to follow about that one.
The other aim is to get back into the studio and record a new studio album. I’ve been writing and saving ideas on scraps of paper and I’m really looking forward to creating something new.
God created us and unleashed in us the ability to be creative. Life shines when that’s happening.