TAKEN

Just in case you didn't know I am a man. I very rarely leave the toilet seat up but I am a man. As a man, I am not the cause of all the world's problems but there is a time to stand up and say "this problem we are facing is a problem mainly caused by men for men". The problem I am talking about is the abhorrent global trade of human trafficking. Especially those being trafficked for the purpose of sex slavery.

The reason I am talking about this yet again is because a couple of the young woman from our church, NCLC, went to visit the A21 crisis house in Greece last week. A21 is an organisation we partner with in the fight against human trafficking across Europe. I also have just read the report from Hazel Thompson about her latest ebook "TAKEN". This is not the Hollywood glamourised version of events where Liam Neeson sweeps in using his set of special skills to rescue his daughter. That, unfortunately, does not happen. Most of the women and children do not have an ex-CIA operative to bring them home. Many are kept in locked rooms or cages until they are "broken" and never return home.

It can be easy to relegate that problem to another country. But this issue has been highlighted by our own Lindsay Bruce as also a North East problem. I challenge you to do an internet search on human trafficking in the UK. It is a problem here and now with us. Teesside's Ben Cooley felt so passionate about this subject that he has set up the charity HOPE FOR JUSTICE to help in the fight.

I can easily abdicate my responsibility as a man and say that I personally haven't caused it but maybe we, I, need to be part of the solution not just ignore the problem.

Get involved. Buy Hazel's ebook, go to the A21 or the Hope for Justice website and find out what you can do. We are VERY excited to have Ben Cooley, CEO of Hope for Justice join us for our IronMen Conference in November. He will challenge, inspire and get in your face. If you are a man, get to the conference, you can register here.


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Lessons from Tough Mudder

 I pray you are having a great start to the week. As most of you will know, on Saturday, a team from NCLC competed in the event aptly named "Tough Mudder." It was tough and there was a LOT of mud. We finished, having completed every obstacle.
It made us all confront the fear in our head whether that was of heights, ice baths, dark holes, long runs or electric shocks (you REALLY should have a fear of electric shocks). Between us we managed to raise about £1500 on behalf of the A21 campaign
against human trafficking.

One of the things that was most evident throughout the event was teamwork. We were in it to complete it. The only way that we wanted to complete it was together. We all needed encouragement at different points of the course. We contended FOR each other not WITH each other in the tough times.
We all made a decision that we start, run and complete the course together.

The Bible in Psalm 84 says:
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

We have committed to the journey together as a community. We go through the tough times together. I want as many of us to start, run and complete this journey together. We are encouraged in Hebrews not to step away from meeting together.
The amount of times I talk about leaning into community when times get tough, yet it still breaks my heart to see one or two people step away using weak excuses or some even great sounding reasons but it still comes down to a decision to step out of what God has placed you in.

There is strength in our community.
There is companionship in our community.
There is accountability in our community.
There is discipleship in our community.
There is growth in our community.
There is healing in our community.
There is value placed in our community.
God is found in our community.

Those that are planted in the house of The Lord will flourish (Psalm 92).

I am committed to building a church where lives will flourish.
I have no plan B.

Flourishing is not just about things going well. It is about staying the course when things get tough. It is about being able to withstand the harsher seasons yet still bear fruit.

Let's contend FOR each other in tough times, celebrate WITH each other when times are great and stand ALONGSIDE each other to complete the journey and win the prize. A prize which is much more than a cool T-shirt, a not so cool orange headband and a pint of cider.


Yours
Pastor Jon Cook

Tough Mudder videos and pictures

So the event is finally over and done with for this year. I did a video just before the event and an update today.
I have also included a video of the event and some pictures.
I am hopefully doing 2 next year.
We raised about £1500 for The A21 Campaign against human trafficking.

The Arctic Enema

The day of reckoning has arrived. Tough Mudder TM 10

So the morning of the event is here. The team are turning up in half an hour.

Tough Mudder No.9

A quick update on Tough Mudder. 2 days to go.

Though I would give you a quick update. The team has formed well. We have trained hard and really want to work this as a team.
I am resting from training for the last 2 days.
We have raised over £1000 so far for A21 campaign against human trafficking.
Please go to www.justgiving.com/nclctoughmudder

Tough Mudder No.8

So this morning I am pleased to announce that I managed to run 10.5 miles in a respectable time. The hardest battle was not the hills, the tiredness or the chafing thighs; it was the battle inside my head. Give up or finish the race!
I think the next run maybe even harder as I now know the cost of completing it. This time I was ignorant of the pain and the battle in my head.
You can join me in paying the cost by going to our justgiving page and sponsoring us.
https://www.justgiving.com/nclctoughmudder/
Thanks

Tough Mudder No. 7

Post workout blog.

Ten 100s

100 runs (12 mters)
100 burpees
100 press ups
100 kettle bell swings
100 chair jumps
100 sit ups
100 leg raises
100 bicep curls
100 tricep ext
100 horizontal pullups

Tough Mudder No. 6

My birthday training blog

Tough Mudder No.5

Post workout video. Sorry about the abrupt ending, I ran out of storage on my phone.

Tough Mudder- The reason why!

People have asked me why on earth am I doing "Tough Mudder".
Here is the reason why.
I am doing it to raise awareness of human trafficking and also to raise funds in the fight against it, particularly through the work of the A21 Campaign.
It is mainly girls and children that are trafficked. the girls are often beaten, raped and drugged and then forced into prostitution.
People have questioned my sanity just because I will face a bit of cold water and a few electric shocks.
Most trafficking is done BY men FOR men. So we, as real men, (you cannot count yourself a real man if you treat women this way) need to be part of the solution.
Check out this video that will explain a bit more about it.
As you watch it, every time your hear the name Natalia, change it to the name of your sister, daughter, girlfriend, wife. Then see whether it becomes personal.
This is why I am doing Tough Mudder.

Tough Mudder TM No.3 Post training session.

Training Session 1
20 running circuits of the church hall (about 9 mins)
1 min press ups
2 mins church circuits
1 min body weight squats
2 mins 2 feet step hops
1 min spiderman floor walk

1 min rest

2 mins 2 feet step hops
1 min plank
2 min burpees
1 press ups
2 min burpees
1 min lying pullups

Yes I know its not a lot and I have a long way to go but at least I have started.

Who is to blame?

This week we have seen more headlines of children vulnerable to abuse. We all want to know who is responsible. We want to know how can someone put these atrocities right. We want to know what is being done about it.

Unfortunately they are the wrong questions that we are asking. So all the time we are asking the wrong questions we will get the wrong answers.

So what are the right questions? The right questions start with not apportioning blame but claiming responsibility. If we start with the understanding that those children are our responsibility then the questions become very different. An old African proverb says "It takes a village to raise a child". We all play our part in raising children. The problems arises when we abdicate our responsibility. We become so involved in our own lives that we forget that God created us to live and thrive in community.

As society as a whole has become more individualistic, it becomes easier to lay the blame at someone else's door. Blame has NEVER solved a problem. Taking OWNERSHIP and RESPONSIBILITY will. Nehemiah said this "I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses." (Neh 1:6-7) He aligned himself with the problem and from there started looking for the solution to the destruction of his city. As the church of Jesus Christ (who aligned Himself with the problem of sin and brought the solution from there) we too often move away from society's problems with the excuse that we are "not of this world". 

• Children being abused is not a government problem.
• The country's national debt and recession is not the government's problem.
• The riots that took place last year is not the problem of poverty.
• Human trafficking is not a police problem.
• Children's lack of literacy and numeracy skills is not an education department problem.
• Childhood mortality in Africa is not Africa's problem.
• Children in care is not a social services problem.
• Litter and pollution is not a local authority problem. 

They are all MY responsibility. They are YOUR responsibility. They are OUR responsibility.

We start looking for someone or organisation to blame because it is easier than to look at our own lives and say "I'm sorry, I did not play my part in looking after you". 
Please understand I am not saying that governments, local authorities, corporate business etc does not bear some weight of responsibility. 
They do. 
But so do we.
We can't do everything but we MUST do something.
If we began, each of us, to say that is my problem, how can I fix it, imagine what a difference we could make.
What small decision could you make today that begins to take ownership of a problem you see?
Pray with me a version of Nehemiah's prayer and then ACT.

 "I confess the sins we, including myself and my family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave us.

Here I am Lord send me"

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Where is my commitment?

The past six months have been pretty tough in many ways. This blog is not a "woe is me" moan but I do want to make a few points about what keeps me going. I have probably come closer to giving up and walking away from what I know God has called me to do than ever before. And as I write that last sentence there is a large clue as to why I keep going.

The Bible is not only the story of God's interaction and intention for mankind but it also gives great principles for our lives. Right the way through the narrative of God's word is a characteristic that is held in high honour but often given too little credence in our fast paced, easy-come easy-go world. That characteristic or virtue is commitment. The Bible will use the terms perseverance or faithfulness in similar contexts.

I look around and see that commitment is a virtue that is often found lacking. It is a virtue I have found lacking in my own life at times. How many times have I committed to losing weight and getting fitter, starting a project that lies unfinished, or even promising to take the kids somewhere and being too busy or too tired to fulfil my promise.

I don't know about you but a commitment is easy to give at the beginning or when things are going our way. Its when the going gets tough that commitment and perseverance are truly tested and seen. We are told that one of the outworkings of love is that it ALWAYS perseveres (1 Cor 13:7). We know that perseverance actually grows character in our lives (Romans 5:3-4).

Perseverance is actually hardest when we have a choice. If I am halfway home on my bike and the rain has soaked me to the skin, everything about me wants to quit but I know that I have no choice, I have to go on. Its much harder if its raining outside and I have committed myself to riding to work to get fit and save money but my car is sat in the driveway taunting me with how warm and cosy the drive will be compared to riding my bike.

What do we do when things don't go our way? Do we hold to our commitments and persevere in them or walk away?

Making a commitment means

• I can't just walk away from something when it is not going well.
• Its not so much about what I commit to but about it being part of my character.
• That if I persevere in my commitments I am becoming more like Christ (2 Thess 3:5)
• That I am walking in love.
• If I fulfil them and they are in the will of God then I will receive what He has promised (Heb 10:36)

I have seen too many people not persevere in their commitments when things are not to their liking. I don't want to run away. Just because I feel like it, it doesn't mean that I will. Coming close is actually a miss. Coming close to quitting, in the words of Pastor Matthew Barnett is a good thing because it means we have something to quit from. Coming close to quitting is actually completely persevering in our commitments. So be encouraged if you have come close to quitting but haven't, you are on the right road.

So, to finish, what keeps me going in my role as the senior leader in NCLC?

1. I fully believe God called me to start, grow and build this church.
2. Just because things aren't as I want them to be right now, I know they are not what they were but are closer to what they could be.
3. I have committed myself to seeing the lost become found and the found become disciples. Lives growing in God.
4. God has given me so much grace that I have to pass that through to other people.
5. I don't want to be known as a quitter.
6. I fully believe God called me to start, grow and build this church.

I have a choice, I can walk away but I will keeping going. You have a choice, what will yours be?

Hope this helps.


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