The One With The Camping Trip

The One With The Camping Trip from Andrew Dowsett on Vimeo.

Gazing : Going

Ascension Day from Andrew Dowsett on Vimeo.

Today is Ascension Day.

‘So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

‘He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

‘After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

‘They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”’ (Acts 1:6-11)


Why do you stand here looking into the sky?

The angels confront our passive gazing; our longing to establish a kingdom that is ours, not God’s; to tie God down. Passive gazing anaesthetises our heart to the very One we love.

Passive gazing is a world away from active gazing; the longing to depart and be with our Lord that the apostle Paul expresses in Philippians 1:20-26; the tension of living between two times. Active gazing is cardiac exercise for the heart that knows that he or she is loved.

And then there is going. “Don’t just stand there!” the angels say. But, just as there is passive gazing and active gazing, so there is passive going and active going.

Passive going is restless; empty of power to usher-in kingdom transformation; moves out with purpose, the purpose of witnessing to ourselves; not connected to, not led by, Jesus.

Active going – counter-intuitively – involves waiting; is empowered by the Holy Spirit; moves out with purpose, the purpose of witnessing to the Risen and Ascended One; follows him still.


Ascension Day presents us with a kairos moment.
For some: repent from passive gazing, and believe with active gazing.
For others: repent from passive going, and believe with active going.
For still others: repent from gazing without going...or going without gazing.

The question is, will Ascension Day pass us by unnoticed? Or will it change our lives?

Weeping Angel

weeping angel from Andrew Dowsett on Vimeo.

Roam

Roam from Andrew Dowsett on Vimeo.

Seven

Today is Noah’s seventh birthday. Yesterday, we had a party. Jo made a(n enormous) LEGO-inspired cake. I made a pin-the-hat-on-the-LEGO-policeman. And Susannah played ‘Happy birthday to you!” on the piano.

This Is My Son

This is my son. Not the one I misplaced the other day. My other son, Noah.

Today is Noah’s sixth birthday. He took four friends from school and his sister bowling.

Right at the end, after his friends had gone and as we were gathering up coats and cake and his little brother, we caught him dancing. Not because anyone was watching. Just because he loves to dance.

I love it when Noah dances.

Prologue

This is something of an experiment, the first time I've made a (very simple!) video worship resource, and the first time I've uploaded video on my blog...

The clip was filmed by me, on my digital camera (note to self: get hold of a tripod). The words are from The Gospel According to John, chapter 1 verses 1-14, and are read by my good friend Mark Carey (note to self: position of voice in relation to microphone). It was put together as a spur-of-the-moment thing when Jo and I were visiting Mark and Penny yesterday evening. It might not be state-of-the-art, but it gives me an indication of how easy it is to put together something simple, and I think I might make some more...