Guess who pops up this morning on the Spurs official calender as fans of the White Heart Lane club flip over from January to February….

You couldn’t make this stuff up!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything Stop the Traffik related, and I thought it was time for a bit of an update. There is some great news on their website, that just shows what a positive impact campaigning can make!

For those of you who may not know what Stop the Traffik is, it is a growing global movement of individuals, communities and organisations fighting to PREVENT the sale of people, PROTECT the trafficked and PROSECUTE the traffickers. There are more people trapped in slavery today than there were at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and that must be stopped. You can find out more at their website

Stop the Traffik campaigns in many areas, but perhaps the most prominant is their chocolate campaign, and for good reason; Over a third of the world’s chocolate comes from Cote D’Ivoire, Africa. It’s highly likely that your favourite chocolate bar comes from here. Thousands of children – from within the Cote D’Ivoire and neighbouring countries – who pick and harvest these beans have been trafficked. They have had their freedom taken away from them and are forced to work long hours on the cocoa plantations without receiving any money for their work. This needs to stop- making chocolate traffik free must be a priority for us! If its not ok for children to be treated like that in the UK, why do we ignore it when it happens in other parts of the world?

Since the STOP THE TRAFFIK chocolate campaign started in 2007, there have been lots of exciting developments and breakthroughs:

* July 2008:
Verkade committed to 100% fairtrade cocoa and sugar in their chocolate bars in Netherlands from autumn 2008
* February 2009:
Swiss Noir committed to fairtrade cocoa in their chocolate bars in Netherlands from March 2009
* March 2009:
Cadbury committed to fairtrade Dairy Milk in the UK and Ireland from autumn 2009
* April 2009:
Mars committed to Rainforest Alliance cocoa in Galaxy bars in the UK and Ireland from 2010 and across their whole product range globally by 2020
* December 2009:
Nestle commit to a fairtrade four fingered kit kat from January 2010.

That means hundreds of children have been released from slavery and are now working less, getting a fair wage for thier work when they do and recieving an education. This is fantastic, and just goes to show what a massive impact people campaigning can make on multi-national businesses. You could be cynical about this, and say it is just a drop in the ocean, or that turning one bar in a whole brand traffik-free is little more than a publicity stunt, but the fact is lives have been changed for the better as a result of this, which has got to be worth celebrating!

That said, clearly there is much more that needs to be done- we need to keep up the pressure on the big chocolate companies to make their entire ranges traffik free! You can find out more about how to do that on the Stop the Traffik website and by following them on Twitter. Get on it guys!

*Update! Green and Blacks have just committed to making their whole range fairtrade!

Whilst they may not be doing so well at the moment, a boffin called Allan Kemp, probably in the basement at opta, has figured out that Liverpool are officially the best team in the history of top flight football in England. This may not be a surprise to Liverpool fans, but I imagine it will be tough for Manchester United fans to take- 4th in the table behind the aforementioned Merseyside club, Arsenal and Everton. No doubt if you did the same exercise for the last 20 years the team from the red half of Merseyside would be much further down the table, but form is temporary and class is permanant as they say!
Check the table out for yourselves below…..

Last night whilst Manchester United and Manchester City were battling it out in front of 40,000 people in a high stakes Carling Cup semi-final, I had the pleasure of going to watch Oxford United vs Woking in the 2nd round of the FA trophy (the League Cup of the non-league teams).

It ended up a 1-0 victory for the mighty U’s, in what was a scrappy game, full of well meaning endeavour but low on entertainment, on a freezing night in a 3-sided stadium (they ran out of cash before the 4th side could be built) in front of 1,151 hardy souls. The weird thing is though, I was delighted to be there.

There is something special about going to watch your local club play, especially if they are not in the promised land of the Premier League. At the risk of envoking horrible cliche, this, it seems to me is the heart of football;

Whilst also professing to be a Liverpool fan I also grew up watching Oxford United at the ramshakle Manor Ground. In contrast with the glamorous Anfield club, they yo-yoed around the lower leagues, battling financial crisis and boardroom instability. Finally, in 2007, after I had moved to Swansea they suffered the indignity of being relegated out of the league into the Blue Square Premier where they have languished ever since.

But it was great to be there last night- you knew everyone watching had to be local (why else would you go?!), there was a great sense of long suffering gallows humour amongst the fans and there was a commitment to this rubbish football team that defies logic or sense, but is fantastic. We sat, shivering, drinking watery hot chocolate and exchanging mutual pleasantries (or not so pleasant depending on what was going on amongst the pitch) amongst people you know have been watching this side for decades come rain or shine, relegation or promotion. There were no prawn sandwiches on show last night!

I’m pretty sure you dont find atmosphere like this in the upper eschalons of the Premier League! Success brings a different feeling to a club, leading to raised expectations and shorter patience with the team. I know this as I’ve seen it at Swansea City- they may not be Premier League just yet, but the club has a different feel about it now they are pushing for promotion for that league rather than kicking around the lower depths of football’s pro pyramid.

I’ll be honest, it’s hard work to follow Oxford United whilst living in Swansea- the U’s don’t get a great deal of press coverage anyway, and in Wales (understandably) it is non-existant. I end up scouring the scant offerings on the BBC website and the lame official one.

I did think about ending this post with a glib anecdote about the local church vs mega churches but instead I’ll just urge you to get out there and support your local team (even if you support a Premier League team on the side- come on Liverpool!).

Yesterday I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read what Pat Robertson had written about the devesting earthquake in Haiti- thankfully the balance was redressed when I saw Jim Wallis’ (of God’s Politics and Sojourners) response earlier today. I had been thinking about writing my own thoughts on Robertson, but what’s written below is far more elequent;

Pat Robertson said yesterday that Haiti’s earthquake was a result of the country’s “pact with the devil.” I don’t even know what he means, nor does it matter much to me. As I reflected on Robertson’s comments, I was reminded of how many times he has embarrassed so many fellow Christians with his intemperate comments. As a Christian leader, I have had to spend too much of my time trying to overcome an image of Christianity that was created by the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. When people thought of Christians, these far-right leaders and their ideas are all they knew. But truthfully, Pat Robertson is increasingly irrelevant, except for weird soundbites in the media.

Even though Robertson has become marginal, his extreme comments can still shape people’s views of Christianity and God. So, I thought I’d take Robertson’s comment as an opportunity to set the record straight. The God I serve, the God of the Bible, does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down. Evil happens, whether at the hands of corrupt people or because the earth shifts along a fault line and the world rumbles.

When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God. The answer: God is suffering in the midst of the evil with those who are suffering. Throughout the Scripture, we find a picture of a God who is with the people, even in their darkest hours. Today, in Haiti, God is suffering with those who are suffering. My prayers go out to the families who are suffering.

Jim Wallis in the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/god-suffers-with-the-suff_b_423853.html

You can donate here: Disasters Emergency Committee
or here: World Vision
or here: Tearfund

(and for the record Pat Robertson is a moron and doesnt speak for me)

I was pretty excited to find out last week that Rob Bell (of Nooma and Velvet Elvis fame) is bringing his Drops Like Stars tour to Swansea this spring, landing at the Brangwyn Hall on Tuesday March 16th. Hats off to event53 for once again bringing quality speakers/acts to Swansea, when otherwise they would’ve stopped at Cardiff and then just turned around!

The tour spends 2 hours exploring the link between suffering and creativity, and sounds like it will be a really great evening. The blurb on his website goes like this:

We plot, we plan, we assume things are going to go
A certain way and then they don’t and we find ourselves
In a new place, a place we haven’t been before, a place
We never would have imagined on our own,

And so it was difficult and unexpected and maybe even
Tragic and yet it opened us up and freed us to see
Things in a whole new way

Suffering does that—
It hurts,
But it also creates.

How many of the most significant moments in your
Life came not because it all went right, but because
It all fell apart?

It’s strange how there can be art in the agony…

The Drops Like Stars tour is a two
Hour exploration of the endlessly complex
Relationship between suffering and creativity—
And I’d love to see you there.

For anyone who goes to Pantygwydr and does want to see Rob there I have 5 tickets at the face value of £10.50 which are first come, first serve- please just let me know if you want one!
Watch intheroom for some thoughts on the evening later on in March!

An appeal from Bankaid

I know its a little late, but its also very funny!
Thanks to connexions for the link!

* This was first published on the 26th of February 2009 on the first incarnation of intheroom so not many people would have read it. I think it is my favourite, so I have decided to go for a repost!*

For the past few months I have been thinking about the issue of ‘end times’ and the theology that goes along with it. In some senses it is the first time I’ve engaged with these issues since I began (and gave up) reading the Left Behind series when I was a teenager. In the past I’ve shied away from this area because it is so intimidating intellectually, because of the unnecessary division it causes and because by nature I am much more of a ‘here and now’ kind of a guy rather than someone who spends lots of time thinking about what may or may not happen in the future.

However a combination of our trip to Israel and various conversations in its aftermath, my theology course and a request from Student Cell to study Revelation has piqued my interest and I have tentatively begun dipping my toe in this controversial water. At this point I would like to say I am still learning, I don’t want to come across as dogmatic, and I certainly don’t have all the answers, but there are some aspects of the way people deal with this subject that I find difficult to say the least.

Most of all I struggle with an obsessive focus on the ‘rapture’ and people trying to figure out when Jesus will return by reading contemporary events into the apocalypic predictions of Revelation. Let me qualify both those statements by explaining what I mean. One of the most popular strains of Christian thought in the US at the moment (prompted and strengthened by the ubiquitous Left Behind series) is that of the rapture, a moment when Jesus returns in secret and all the believers disappear, leaving behind crashed planes, motorway pileups and a momentarily baffled global population. What is supposed to happen next is 7 years of persecution for the church, known as the tribulation, and the rise of the anti-Christ before Jesus returns visibly and reigns on earth for 1000 years. In other words Jesus will return invisibly for his saints and then visibly with his saints.

For me the problem with this is, I see nothing in Scripture about a silent return of Jesus, and yet so many people believe it because of what they have read in the tomes of LaHaye and Jenkins. If you type the word ‘rapture’ into bible gateway you will find it does not appear in the TNIV, NIV, NKJV or ASV. I realise this is not a full-proof argument against the idea of a Left Behind style rapture, as the word Trinity isn’t mentioned in the Bible either, and yet all Christians hold to the truth of that doctrine. However, it is something I think will surprise a lot of people, and means the evidence for a secret return of Jesus and rapture has to be explicit in other ways. I cannot see that it is.

The passage most frequently used to justify a two-stage rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

“15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

Nowhere in that passage do I see a two-stage return of Jesus. The Lord comes down, the dead rise first, and then all other believers join Him too, and we shall be with Him forever. Job done. In one stage. If this really is the best evidence for a 2 stage rapture then it is pretty weak. The strongest argument against this theory are the words of Jesus himself, in Matthew 24:30-31

“30″At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

What I do see written about in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testament, is a triumphant return of Jesus that everyone will see and everyone will understand immediately. The reason all of this matters is because a two-stage rapture leads to much bad theology. Stephen Sizer sums it up well in his book Zion’s Christian Soldiers, when he says “It is the reason many Christians don’t seem to care about climate change or preserving diminishing supplies of natural resources. They are similarly not worried about the nation debt, nuclear war, or world poverty because they hope to be raptured to heaven and avoid suffering the consequences of a coming global holocaust. Like a sinking ship, the world is doomed. Therefore there is no point in preserving the world or getting involved in humanitarian work.”Scary as it sounds I have come across this attitude in Christians in Swansea, and it upsets me. It is so diametrically opposed to the commandment ‘love your neighbour’ that I fail to see how anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus can, in all conscience, adopt it as their own attitude.

Sadly the craziness doesn’t stop there. Whilst looking into all of this I came across a worryingly popular website called Rapture Ready and when I looked it up my jaw hit the floor. It’s main purpose is to calculate how close we are to the rapture using ‘the rapture index’ which takes over 40 signs from scripture, puts them into 4 overall headings and then gives them a score based on frequency, intensity or significance at any given moment. It then totals them up and tells you how likely the rapture is (FYI anything over 150 means ‘fasten your seatbelts’!)

The biggest problem with this kind of theology/crystal ball gazing is that it goes directly against the teaching of Jesus and the apostles in the Bible. In Matthew 24: 36, 42-44

36″No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… 42″Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. “

That seems pretty clear- no one knows, so stay alert and keep serving Jesus because he could be back at any time. Also check out 2 Peter 3:4,10 for further confirmation of this.

A lesser problem is that it makes the church (and by association Jesus) look silly when people make wild ‘definite’ predictions about the end of the world that do not come true. For example in his 1970 book The Late Great Planet Earth (which sold millions of copies) Hal Lindsey claims that Russia was the power destined to bring about Armageddon by attacking Israel. Seems possible in the midst of the Cold War, but by the time he writes The Oracle Commentaries in 2006 the Soviet Union had collapsed and his force for Armageddon conveniently morphs into a Russian-Syrian-Iranian Axis. It is clearly nonsense and we should not engage with this kind of self-serving prediction, that depends entirely on who the US is most aggravated with at any given time. Worst of all this kind of thing diverts our attention away from serving God into endlessly speculating about something the Bible makes clear we can never know.

The lessons I’ve taken away from this are twofold, firstly when faced with any kind of Christian teaching, however popular, investigate what the Bible has to say about it for yourself, rather than just assuming what you have been told is correct. Secondly live every day 100% for Jesus, every moment as if He were about to return and don’t miss out on living for Him here and now because you are so concerned about when he might return.

James Cameron doesn’t do things by halves, his last movie was Titanic, the most expensive and highest grossing film ever (at the time), his breakthrough hit Aliens, took a creepy claustrophobic original and supersized it to blockbuster. His latest, Avatar, released 14 years after his sinking ship, is no different. It is a pioneering 3D motion capture production, unlike anything that has been done before. The budget was sky high, and so were the expectations. Luckily in many ways Avatar does not disappoint.

It is set on an alien world, rich in resources, which humans have come to mine. Disabled ex-Marine Jake Sully is recruited to aid a mining expedition after the death of his twin brother, because only his DNA will bond with the alien hybrid body, known as an Avatar, that allows humans to breathe the toxic air. He is then ordered to infiltrate the Na’vi, and persuade them to move on from their home, which inconveniently for the miners sits on the biggest deposit of valuable minerals on the planet. The action unfolds from there, and lasts a lengthy 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Avatar is no standard blockbuster. It has been hyped to the heavens and the reason for this is it’s pioneering 3D format. Cameron had to design and build the technology to pull this movie off, and it is fantastic. I’m sure it has set the standard for this kind of film for years to come- it is a benchmark movie. It is remarkable, especially in the first 45 minutes as Sully and his compatriots explore the planet. Animals jump out at you, lush vegetation feels like it is brushing past your face, and fights tumble out of the screen at you. It creates a depth to the environment that I have never seen before in a film, and is more than a gimmick. It genuinely adds to the experience of watching Avatar in a meaningful way.

This means that Pandora, the world James Cameron has spent so many years imagining and then creating, is stunning. Right from the start of the film you are immersed in it, and it never lets you go. The director has managed to created something fantastical,and alien, but that at the same time holds together as a believable world. The main focus of the film, the Na’vi, do not seem to be CGI beings but are very lifelike, and sit comfortably in their surroundings interacting with the landscape with amazing realism. The facial reactions and expressions are so much more natural than other MoCap movies like Beowulf or The Polar Express, and you almost forget they are (very clever) computer creations. One of the other  remarkable things about this film is that Pandora is a fully realized world, and it does seem as if it could’ve evolved over billions of years. The common links between all the various creatures (the weird neck breathing holes for example), the way the Na’vi are able to ‘link’ into the nature around them or the similar but different nature of the flying creatures all help create this illusion. This incredibly developed world is what gives Avatar an edge over all the other 3D movies that have come out up to this point, and what makes it worth seeing.

Cat said Avatar was an event movie, Jurassic Park, being the obvious comparison. I completely agreed- there was a buzz surrounding this film, people (including me) were genuinely excited about seeing it, there was a huge queue to get in to see it and the cinema was rammed after the months of hype. Sadly Avatar is no Jurassic Park. That film combined it’s blockbuster visuals with a good storyline, some twists in the plot and some passable acting. By comparison Avatar is clunky, predictable and preachy. I won’t give anything away, but if you haven’t figure out the ending 45 minutes before it happens you weren’t paying attention. There is nothing remarkable at all about the substance of the film- in that sense it is nothing more than (very) average blockbuster fare.

The worst part of this film for me was it’s preachy and ponderous tone. the environmental message it contains is about as subtle as a brick, and we get beaten around the head with it until we can take it no more and are begging for mercy. There is no doubt it is an important message, and all our actions do have a massive impact on the world in which we live so we must care for it, but there surely must be a better way of delivering that message than this.Not only that, but the clumsy and obvious comparisons with the conduct of America in the Iraq war are just as frustrating. Yes James we get it- war for oil bad- now just leave me in peace and let me watch the film.

I enjoyed watching Avatar and am glad I saw it on the big screen and in 3D. I’m not sure however, if it is worth the five star reviews it has received in the press. For me it is a beautiful, groundbreaking victory for style over substance. Beyond the wow factor of the breathtaking 3D mo-cap the rest of the film is paper thin and throwaway, not at all in keeping with the environmental ethic of the film. The Times called it Dances with Wolves with Smurfs- I cannot think of a better epithet myself!

Christmas is amazing! There is just so much I love about it, the chance to spend time with friends and family, fantastic food, especially mince pies, singing carols, Christmas trees and the classic Christmas movies we watch again and again, but most of all I love what it means for me as a Christian.

The idea that Jesus loves us so much, that he leaves heaven to come down to first century Palestine, to live and die and then be raised to life again as a man in order that we might be reconciled to God is just mind blowing! Christmas is the story of God getting his hands dirty, serving the people he created and bringing with him the Kingdom of God as he heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, teaches incredible, life changing truth and raises the dead.

Christmas is about the God who created the universe stretching out his hand and offering it us, offering us life and salvation, offering us the chance to start over without the guilt of our wrongdoing hanging over us. But it is even bigger than that, bigger than you or me. Jesus birth is the beginning of the end for death, suffering and pain- it is God starting to restore all the things we have messed up. This is the hope of Christmas.

About 600 years before Jesus’ birth the prophet Isaiah declared that hope was coming, a promise of hope, of peace, of mercy and grace for all of us- I think it might be my favourite Christmas passage…

“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as soldiers rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.”

Have an amazing, hope-filled Christmas