OK, honesty right away. I'm not perfect. Don't be shocked. I'm not. When you're a 'full-time' Christian (such a misnomer; we should all be full-time) people have a perception that you operate on a superspiritual level. Well, others may, but I don't. I struggle to be a good husband, a good father, a good stepfather, a good colleague, a good pastor; oh and I mean every day.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the challenge. But isn't the process messy? Regular pattern. I mess up, I get stubborn about messing up, eventually I go to God for help, He helps, I'm grateful, I forget, then I mess up again.

I know that's not just me. Paul was writing about it 2000 years ago in Romans 7. But I do get mad at ME! Why do I never learn? Of course this is when my mind starts to short-circuit at God's grace; 'cos He is always faithful when I am sometimes faithless.

Ok, sermon over!

Today our seeker-friendly service was focused on the theme of freedom. Based on the story of the rehabilitation of Lazarus (Jesus knew how to spoil a funeral didn't he?!), it explored how we can find freedom from all the things that screw us up, be they in the past, the present, or fears of the future.

My freedom and enjoyment of it was somewhat spoiled by our often unreliable sound engineer turning up 45 minutes late without a care in the world. His reason was that it's just too early in the morning (10am is early?) for him. Which gets me back to the full-time Christian thing from earlier. People in churches should see what they do within the church as ministry. It's not just for the anointed minister to feel and own that responsibility (though goodness knows they do) but for the church member to see their roles as 'doing them as unto the Lord.' It's frustrating when people don't because it displays the wrong values to a watching world. It's a worldy 'doing just enough to scrape by' attitude. It diminishes our potential and adversely affects others' opportunities to fulfil their spiritual capabilities. Ok, a sound guy turning up late isn't the end of the world, but it's indicative. People who 'wing it' will never find out what it's like to soar on wings like eagles.

That's all folks.