Week One

After weeks (or was it months?) of preparation and expectation ‘Find heaven in Luton’ finally began at 7 30 on Wednesday 2^nd May at the COGIC Centre. By the time J John began to speak the building was full to capacity as around 1500 people gathered to hear him talk about finding true happiness in life. Some came because they wanted to know the answer to that question; some because they had been invited by a friend; and some because they wanted to know what had happened to the old Odeon Cinema!

Whatever the reasons for being there, we were treated to a lively evening with much humour, music and plenty of food for thought.

As the song goes, we are ‘Living in a material world’ and J John, in looking at the tenth commandment ("Do not covet …."), focussed on how we all live in one of two tents – ‘con-tent’ or ‘dis-con-tent’! He then went on to explore how we can find contentment in our lives by

• Adopting an attitude of gratitude – thankfulness makes us able to see how much we already have
• Being a wise steward – perhaps undergoing ‘plastic surgery’ and chopping up our credit cards if they continually get us into trouble
• Giving – the old saying ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive’ really does work in curing our discontent
• Paying attention to relationships, not things – in the race for prosperity, people are often pushed aside
• Checking our priorities – making sure that we haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy; and last but not least
• Keeping our hearts in shape - by having and maintaining a relationship with God.

Much to think about!

With people standing at the COGIC Centre on Week One of the series on the Ten Commandments, plans were put in place which enabled an overflow venue to be available for the second week. In addition to the capacity ‘crowd’ at COGIC there were around 200 people in Bury Park United Reformed Church in Waldeck Road joining in proceedings via a live video link-up.

At the beginning of the evening, Paul, who lives and works locally described how, for several years, he led a life where he was deceiving those to whom he was closest. Through the support of a local church (and with help from God!) he was finally able to break this cycle of lies and begin to rebuild his marriage and family life.

J John went on to describe how, although God is a God of truth, it is unfortunately the case that we are people of lies – lies that damage us, hurt others and separate us from God. In ‘How to hold the truth’ – looking at the ninth commandment ‘You shall not give false testimony’ – he helped us to understand what lying does and gave us the following pointers to fight lies

• Beware of the power of the tongue – the old saying "Sticks and stones may hurt my bones but words will never harm me" is simply not true. Bones will heal, physical wounds will heal, but words can damage us for life
• Don’t get involved in gossip – "Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don’t"! Check whether you would be willing to put your signature to something you intend to say!
• Get to know the God of truth – Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life."

As J John said, the commandment doesn’t say "Do not steal more than £1.50!" and as he began to explore what God says about theft many of us began to realise that it was just possible this could apply to us! He went on to list some of the ways we can be involved with stealing

• Dishonesty – cheating others, giving short measures, charging more than we should, taking a ‘sickie’, – the list was endless
• Defrauding – tax evasion and avoidance cost this country somewhere between £5-11 billion each year (could that help the National Health Service?); what about exaggerating insurance claims, overcharging on expense accounts, being slow to pay wages – just some examples
• Defaulting – not paying back money owed, or not returning something borrowed (that hotel towel, library book, CD?)

How to affair-proof your relationship

"Disturbingly challenging!" was the verdict of one person at the COGIC Centre of Wednesday 23^rd May after J John had spoken about the 7^th commandment - "Do not commit adultery."

Amid much laughter, jokes and one-liners he sought to show us first what is meant by ‘adultery’ in God’s eyes – and it’s not as simple as it first appears! Yes, it is the straightforward "when someone has sex with someone who is married to someone else", but the Bible shows us that adultery is more than that. We need to watch our thoughts because it is our thoughts that lead to words, which lead to actions which lead to adultery.

How do we do this? By making a decision not to feed our thoughts:

• cancel that subscription to ‘Playboy’; get rid (safely) of any pornographic magazines, books, videos or other material (You can place it in one of the amnesty bins on a Wednesday night and it will be burnt at the end of the ten weeks.)
• turn off the TV if things get ‘sleazy’
• and, if we’re married, don’t pursue that ‘harmless’ relationship with someone of the opposite sex.

There is much on television and in the cinema that would have us believe that adultery is exciting, romantic, fulfilling and normal – but God’s view is that there is no ‘safe sex’ outside marriage.

Thankfully, if we do get ourselves into a mess there is a way out. Jesus came to offer forgiveness and mercy to those who want to change – all we have to do is accept his love for us.

So, to answer the question, how do we affair-proof our relationships? J John gave us several hints and tips:

• Mutual respect – "you can bury a marriage with lots of little digs!"
• Take responsibility – take the blame and attack the problem, not each other!
• Recreation – change your priorities and spend ‘quantity’ as well as ‘quality’ time with each other.
• Romance – "more courting in marriage leads to fewer marriages in court!"
• Resolve – to be faithful. Go for commitment at all costs, especially when storms come!

Week Five

How to tame your temper

25% of all murders in this country are ‘between’ husbands and wives

• 44% of all crimes reported by women are related to domestic violence
• One quarter of all women have suffered from domestic violence
• By the time children have reached adulthood they will have watched thousands of murders on television or at the cinema

It was with facts like these that J John began his talk on the fifth commandment "Do not murder" at the COGIC Centre on Wednesday 30^th May. After hearing from Hugh Southon, a freelance sports journalist, about how his temper had, in effect, ‘murdered’ his first marriage, over 1500 people heard how Jesus extended this commandment to cover those attitudes and actions that cause harm and can eventually lead to the taking of a valuable human life – anger, prejudice, racism, resentment, and even passive inaction.

J John described how, although anger can be legitimate (God gets angry at sin!) it is important that it does not lead to sin and is expressed in non-destructive ways. He gave the following advice on ‘taming the temper’:

1. Understand why you are angry – normally due to injustice, humiliation or frustration and can be triggered by a very small thing at the end of a long sequence of events;
2. Learn to love yourself – get a sense of self-worth so that you are not intimated or feel insecure – know how very much God loves you;
3. Admit your anger – to yourself, to others and to God – ‘talk it out rather than take it out’;
4. Deal with anger immediately – don’t let it turn into a grudge;
5. Stop and think before you speak – anger seldom gets us what we want!;
6. Ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit – Jesus transforms people enabling them to love rather than hate, to forgive rather than bear a grudge. God gives us the choice and the chance to be different – after all, most of the Bible was written by three ex-murderers – Moses, David and Paul!

J John offered those present the opportunity to live a different life – and many, many people responded, asking Jesus to help them deal with their anger, resentment, or other issues that had been discussed that evening or on previous Wednesdays.