Big name hidden meaning

At the start of a new season, the hopes and expectations of football supporters up and down the country are raised. Although we are now only a few weeks into the 2009/10 season, it seems that already some teams are facing an uphill battle to achieve success. When things aren't going quite right, supporters often want new and betters players to be signed to improve the team's performance. Sometimes the supporters express the desire for a "big named player" to be signed (meaning a well known player with a good reputation and proven track record). The team which I have supported since childhood, Hull City (yes, I know they're doing very badly so far, but there's time for improvement!) signed a player with a very big name - Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. His name might suggest that he comes from a region called Hesselink. However, the true explanation is rather different:

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's name derives from the 17th century, when two farming families in the Enschede area of the Netherlands intermarried. Both the Vennegoor and Hesselink names carried equal social weight, and so, rather than choose between them, they chose to use both. "Of" in Dutch translates to "or" in English, which would mean that a strict translation of his name would read 'Jan Vennegoor or Hesselink'. This could be considered as having the same effect as the double-barrelling of English surnames.

In England, the tradition has been that generally speaking, when a couple are married the wife will take on the husband's family name. The traditional in Holland, however, was that the family name which carried the higher social standing would be used!

For many people, even today, social status is something to be sought after. I suppose that we are all tempted in some way to avoid anything which would lower our status in the eyes of others. It has probably always been so. There is a passage in the New Testament when Jesus overhears the disciples arguing amongst themselves who is the greatest (shades of Muhammad Ali!) In response, Jesus instructed them, 'The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves'.

I love the way in which Jesus so often turned conventional wisdom on its head. In effect, he says, the greatest in God's eyes is the one who is willing to serve, and take the lowest place. Jesus certainly knows how to lay down a challenge!

The blessing of sisters

In my Dad's early working days he worked as a gardener. One of the places he worked was Burton Agnes Hall, which is perhaps not surprising as he was born and brought up in the village. By the time I was born he had left behind the time of being employed as a gardener, but he never lost his love of gardening. In the early years of my marriage, whenever we moved house Dad would come and set to work on our garden. It was great to see how soon he could knock it into shape. The challenge for me then was to keep it at that standard!

Though I quite enjoy gardening, I am nothing like as skilled at it as my dad was. We have been at out current house for just over 9 years now, and I've not really come close to getting on top of the garden. Every now and then I have a bit of a spurt, and parts of it are ok, but I know that Dad would have much to do if he were still alive and able to offer his help!

One of the big problems I face is shortage of time to actually spend in the garden. I was delighted, then, when two of my sisters very kindly offered to come and spend a couple of days with us and do some work in our back garden. Christine and Mary worked really hard, and I'm only sorry that I didn't manage to take a "before" photo to remind me of what the garden was like before their efforts. The back garden has been transformed. We took several car loads of garden waste to the tip, and there's still more waiting to be taken.

Apart from anything else, it's reminded me of how we human beings need each other. It was John Donne who famously wrote, 'No man is an island, entire of itself'. Part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus is to be ready to support, encourage and help others by allowing God's love to flow through us. Jesus calls us to follow his example of servanthood. We also need to be gracious enough to accept the offer of help from others when we are struggling. One of the big problems we face as a society is the fact that there seem to be so many people who feel alone, with no one to help or care. Right now I say a big thank you to God for my two sisters who gave so much to us, and I just hope that it's given me the incentive to carry on the good work!

A funny thing happened on the way to Synod

It's hard to believe that I'm now into my 20th year as a Methodist Minister! It seems such a long time since I had a "proper job" as an accountant (not all accountants are of the boring grey-suited variety!). One of the things I miss most of my former way of life is that I no longer have the traditional weekend break. I used to really enjoy weekends, giving as they did time to spend with the family and to do those jobs around the house and in the garden which I struggle to make time for these days. I also used to enjoy Sundays and attending church. That's not to say that I don't enjoy attending church these days, but it tends to be quite a busy and tiring day.

In theory, Saturday is my day off, though it doesn't always work out that way. Last Saturday, for example, I had to attend Synod in Sheffield. A friend who was not familiar with the term Synod recently asked me what it was. This is the definition I gave her: "It's a meeting which Ministers have to attend every so often where one listens to boring speeches, falls asleep, and then goes home again!" Perhaps a little harsh, but it's hard to pluck up much enthusiasm for Synod, especially when it happens on my day off. Last Saturday I decided that it would be best to take public transport, which meant catching the 7.30am bus into town, then the train to Sheffield. To be honest I don't often use the bus, so I was a bit nervous about whether I'd catch the right one, and whether I would arrive at the train station in time.

I worked out which number bus I needed, and I soon saw it approaching the bus stop. I jumped on, and was surprised to find myself the sole passenger. The driver then explained that someone has taken HIS bus, and that he was chasing after him to regain control of his bus! We spend off down the road and soon caught the bus in question. The miscreant driver, together with all his passengers, were soon transferred to my bus, and the original driver was overjoyed to have his own bus back!

To cut a long story short, I arrived in Sheffield on time and made my way to the Victoria Hall, where Synod was being held. As expected, much of it was fairly boring and I struggled to discern much point to it all. There was, however, one highlight, and that was an address given by the Bishop of Sheffield. I was very interested in and encouraged by what he said. His stated that the biggest challenge facing today's church, and every individual Christian, is to "be more like Jesus". I am sure the he is absolutely right. What our society desperately needs is for those of us who follow Jesus to live more like him. In the New Testament, the apostle John writes, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." Quite a challenge.

Choices - or the wonders of Saltburn

Sue and I spent most of last weekend in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a small coastal town in the north east of England. I had been invited by Doncaster Baptist Church to lead their church weekend. They are a lovely bunch of people, and we had lots of laughs together. It was a privilege to share the weekend with the folk from D.B.C. Our theme for the weekend was "True Worship", and our focus was on the fact that true worship isn't what we might do in a church building for an hour or two on a Sunday, but rather it is the offering of our whole lives to God. I love the Message translation of Romans 12.1, 'So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering.' Not a bad summary of what true worship is all about!

Saltburn is a rather unique place - I've never been anywhere like it! Last weekend was only the second time I'd ever visited Saltburn. It is such a quiet place; walk down the high street and you wonder where everybody is! It's certainly not your average "identikit" street which you find in so many places around the UK; there are some quaint, local shops. But if you see more than about a dozen or so people around it's getting busy!

Despite his, I quite like the place. Certainly having spent a whole weekend there, I'm more taken with it than at our first fleeting visit some years ago. One of the strangest sights of the weekend was finding a sheep tethered and grazing on the lawn of the local Anglican church - at least it saves having to get the mower out, and also provides free fertilizer.

On the Saturday afternoon we had some free time. Sue and I walked down to the pier; it was great to be able to walk out along the pier and watch the surfers. It was quite a steep climb back to the hotel, and many folk were taking the cliff lift (see image above). The cost for a one way trip was 70p. Sue didn't fancy walking, but she had no money with her. Eventually she managed to persuade me to hand over the required 70p so that she could use the lift, whilst I decided to walk. Then, to my surprise, she changed her mind (woman's prerogative!) and decided to walk with me. We did have several stops on the way, but we eventually made it back to the hotel, though I never did get my 70p back!

Just as we had a choice about using the lift or walking, so true or false worship is based on a choice. False worship occurs when we just go through the motions; true worship happens when we make the choice to devote our whole lives to God.