Steve’s alongsider story
There always seemed to be a lot going on at church and I was usually somewhere near the centre of the action. But, after many years in various leadership roles there, I began to question what I was achieving.
There always seemed to be a lot going on at church and I was usually somewhere near the centre of the action. But, after many years in various leadership roles there, I began to question what I was achieving.
After watching a good film as a family, I like to ask, ‘What do you think the main message was?’ ‘Teamwork!’ my sons’ chime and it’s almost always true. We kicked off our summer holidays by watching Fantastic Four: First Steps at the cinema and we closed it with a home viewing of Thunderbolts*.
Our ‘crossing cultures’ adventure began over 35 years ago. In 1988 we moved to Sparkhill, an incredibly diverse area of Birmingham – inner city, multicultural, at the poorer end of the socio-economic scale and predominantly South Asian, either of Sikh, Hindu or Muslim religion.
At the start of the year I found myself hankering after some endorphins, so I joined our local gym. As I settled into something of a routine I mostly found myself at Body Combat, a vigorous thirty minute workout where you punch and kick your way to fitness.
How fruitful you think you are for Christ depends partly on what you think fruit is. Mark Greene explores a rich and liberating framework for everyday fruitfulness.
The lights went out. Ruth and I heard waves thrashing, gusts whistling, a couple crying out. As they attempted to salvage their tent from the incoming tide, I sunk into the comfort of my cinema seat and our friendship.