Into the Spider-Verse and the Leap of Faith

Miles in his Spiderman costume and hody crouches on the side of a building.

A young Black-Latino boy crouches on the edge of a building, music swells, he takes a deep breath, pulls down his spiderman mask, braces himself. Then as the soundtrack asks -What’s up danger? – he leaps from the top of a skyscraper and plummets, out of control, down towards the street below him.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I want you to understand why Into the Spider-Verse and this moment in particular mean so much to me. So, here’s the proper context for Miles’ leap of faith.

Miles Morales gets bitten by a radioactive spider and tries to take on the role of Spiderman. His first and second attempt don’t go well at all.

Miles Morales as Spiderman falls between some buildings screaming ‘AAAAA!’

It’s not something he can do by himself. When Peter B Parker appears on the scene, he finally has someone to show him the ropes (webs?): how to unstick himself from things by relaxing, how to use a webshooter, how to swing. It turns out there are more Spider … people (?!) as well, none of whom have time to teach him anything, but they can show him what it means for each of them to be a Spiderperson.

He sees their unique skills and, more importantly, how they choose to use them. He sees their response to those they’ve rescued and to when they fail. He sees them fight, and get knocked down, and get back up again. Despite the lack of radioactive spiders in my life, I also know people who have shown me what it looks like to live through good times and bad, how to use my talents to help others, how to keep going when I just don’t want to. These people are in my church, in history books, and on nearly every page of the Bible. But, while I very much want to follow their example, I’m also afraid. Afraid that unlike my heroes, I would fail and fall and hurt.

When it’s time for Miles to prove himself, he can’t. He’s not ready, he doesn’t know how, there’s too much uncertainty, too much danger, things have already changed so much! What if there’s no going back? What if it’s the wrong decision?! He asks Peter B the question we all ask before a big decision: “When will I know I’m ready?” And receives the answer no-one wants: “You won’t. It’s a leap of faith. That’s all it is Miles, a leap of faith.”

The circumstances are different for each of us, but we all know that feeling: too much hangs on our decision and we can’t possibly know the outcome – maybe it’ll be all we hoped it would be but maybe it won’t. I know that feeling, I had it when I got married; when I moved countries; every job application, every message to someone I don’t know… I bet you know that feeling too, maybe you’re starting your own business, learning a new skill, taking an exam. None of these things are as physically dangerous as Miles’ leap, but they’re a leap of faith all the same.

That’s when his dad comes to talk to him.

Miles and his dad separated by a door. they both press their heads against it wanting to communicate better.

You can see and hear and feel the love from dad to son. It’s always been there but it’s clearer, more raw, more vulnerable and more emotional here (I’m not crying, you’re crying) – and it’s only after hearing this from his dad that Miles is actually able to take the leap of faith.

Miles’ leap of faith is not one of blind faith anymore. He can follow the example of other Spiderpeople who have made that same decision. And while he, for sure, doesn’t know what will happen; he’s now confident that he will be loved, whether he succeeds or fails.

That love is what makes the difference for me. Even though I’m aware that the people who love me can let me down, because I let down the people that I love too, I can be confident in how much God loves me. And I hope that is something you know too. Just as Miles hears (again) his family’s love for him as he stands on that edge, every time I approach something I’m afraid of, every time I would rather flee than fail, I can look at the time that God himself went to the cross and died for me – looking at that I can’t ever forget how deeply, how perfectly, how wonderfully I’m loved.

When Miles finally jumps, the glass shatters, it’s stuck to his fingers because he isn’t relaxed about it, he’s scared – it’s a jump into the unknown but one that he can now make. And he doesn’t fall forever. He soars.

Miles as Superman rises between buildings, joyfully shouting ‘WOOOO!’

Why did Jesus get baptised?

This question is a big question! Whether you’re teaching about baptism as a practice in the church, or you’ve come to it in one of the gospels, it is clear that a lot of the reasons we would get baptised cannot be the reasons Jesus got baptised. There isn’t space to cover everything about baptism here, but we’ll answer the question by talking about some of the reasons Christians get baptised, why these reasons don’t apply to Jesus and how they relate to why Jesus did it.

What is baptism for?

• Death, burial and resurrection: Baptism is mostly something the church does to show that someone has become a Christian. Once someone has trusted in Jesus to forgive them and chosen to follow him, they get baptised. This is a way of showing everybody that they’re with Jesus now: just as Jesus died, was buried and rose again, someone being baptised goes under the water, stays for a moment and then comes up again. This shows everyone that we’re one with Jesus now; dead to our old lives and sins and having a new start in a new life with Jesus. (See Romans 6:3-4 for what Paul says about this)

• Washing away of sins: There’s another reason why water is used to baptise people and that’s because we also use it for washing. When John the Baptist baptised people in the river Jordan it was to show that they’d repented. Repenting means to turn away from our sin and turn back to God. It’s to show that you haven’t obeyed him in the past but will, with the Spirit’s help, obey him in the future. (You can see this in Matthew 3:1-12 where John the Baptist preaches. Verses 2, 5-6 and 11 make it the most clear.) Being ‘washed’ in the water during baptism shows that, because Jesus was punished for our sins on the cross, our sins have been washed off us and we can be clean and right before the perfectly clean and holy God.

(We’ve been talking mostly about the kind of baptism where you go into a lot of water and then come out again, sometimes because of technical difficulties or tradition people will simply have some water poured or sprinkled on their head. This still represents all the same things.)

What’s different about Jesus’ baptism?

• No death, burial and resurrection yet: Jesus can’t have been baptised to show that he was now one with Jesus; because he already is! Baptism didn’t start to show us being joined with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection until after he’d already done those things. Jesus was baptised years before he would die and people would make the associations between how baptism works and his salvation.

• No sin to wash away: The Bible is very clear that Jesus was tempted, that there were bad choices he could make and that they looked good to him, but that he never gave into temptation, he always did as his Father wanted and made good choices. (Hebrews 4:15 tells us this and Peter who knew him very well for three years says this about him in 1 Peter 2:22). Because he is completely God as well as being completely human, he is the only human who has ever been sinless. So, Jesus didn’t need baptism to show that his sins were washed away because he didn’t have any sin to be washed away.

So why does Jesus get baptised?

John the Baptist recognises that Jesus has come from God and that he doesn’t need to repent so he says: ‘I need to be baptised by you why do you come to me?’ John is asking the same question which we’re asking now. Fortunately Matthew wrote done Jesus’ reply “Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” When we look closer into Jesus’ answer we can see three reasons why he got baptised:

• A new start: Jesus was getting baptised just before the Spirit would lead him into the wilderness where he would be tempted by the devil and then after that he would start teaching about God’s kingdom. Jesus says about John baptising him “Let it be so now” because this is the right time for him to be baptised. Although he doesn’t need to die to a sinful life he is about to have a new start as a teacher and miracle worker. Like Christians being baptised today, Jesus’ baptism also showed others that it was a new start for him.

• In obedience: When Jesus is baptised it is out of obedience to God. Like the other people who heard John and got baptised, Jesus wants to demonstrate to others that he has turned to God and is following him whole heartedly. The difference being that Jesus was never turned away from God in the first place; he dudn’t have any sin to wash away. In being baptiised he fulfils all righteousness, by doing everything that is necessary to be right with God and obedient to him. (If you want a more in depth look at this Jonathan Pennington’s article explains this well)

• An example: Since Jesus was baptised to fulfil all righteousness then Christians should be too. And in this, as in everything else that Christians do, we’re not asked to do anything that Jesus hasn’t done himself. When we’re baptised we follow in his example, doing what he did, showing what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

(We’ve talked a lot about baptism being something that ‘shows’ others what we believe. There are some places however where being a Christian is really dangerous, in places like that a baptism might be done in secret in the middle of the night, in a river far away from others, or in a very cold weather when not many people are outside. Even though fewer people will see these baptisms, just other believers and maybe not many of them, these are still important in showing God, the church and the person being baptised what has changed inside them.)

I read my Bible every day for a year... here's what happened.

Why did I want to do this?
Reading the whole Bible is the best way to understand what it is I believe and to get to know Jesus better. It is hard however to read it and see it’s full glories when you’re always preparing a lesson or a study. Also I wanted to remind myself that even as a teacher I don’t know it all and still need it for myself.

How was it?
I used the Read Scripture app which was perfect for me in terms of reminding me every day to read, but it also allows you to choose to read at your own pace and includes videos from the Bible Project which highlight important themes and structures. It was super helpful and I only missed three days out of the year but I definitely still struggled with actually reading it well not just reading so that I could get it done (especially the genealogies!) it was tricky not to be legalistic about it and to enjoy reading it - it certainly wasn’t a daily struggle but often a joy.

Read Scripture

What’s the end result?
I’ve enjoyed it, and it has definitely benfited my relationship with God. I’m excited about reading the Bible again, not only to teach others but to learn from it myself. I’m desparate to spend more time in a passage than was on the reading plan this year, and to study the books that are less well known to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about reading although I’ve wanted to do it more regularly.

Is it recommended?
I will do it again, but not next year. It helps me to keep a perspective on the stories I know well, that they fit into a wider context and that I don’t know them perfectly and as deeply as they can be known. But I equally find that reading such big chunks in one go means that I don’t see the details or spend as much time in a passage at as I’d like. If it’s not something you do regularly I would definitely try a one or two year reading plan.

P.S. I’m not quite finished with my year yet, but yesterday was the last day of my Bible reading plan which means I have read the whole Bible in within a year and that I’ll be reading a psalm a day until the 31st.

P.P.S You can find the Read Scripture app in the Apple Store and on Google Play.

Action Songs aren't just for kids.

Yesterday a friend asked for some song actions that she could do in church with the kids. I made videos that she would be able to learn and copy the actions from - with so much enthusiasm (occasionally a little too much!)

AndI couldn’t help but think about how good actions songs are: for kids, for me and for all of us. Here’s why:

• They remind us that worship is not synonomous with singing. It’s a mistake we’ve all heard and, probably, all made. So often, in fact, that we don’t even notice it anymore. Our worship leaders are those who sing and/or play guitar; worship conferences focus on new songs and bands; a time of worship is a time of singing. And while all of those things can be worship they are far from all that worship is. To worship means to bow our whole selves to someone. Music and singing help us with that - but action songs remind us that it is not only by what we sing but by what we do that worship God.

• They help us to think more deeply about what we’re singing. So this applies most strongly to the person who comes up with the actions but the little things about actions help us to think through what it is we’re singing. For example ‘You’ can be directed outwards to the congregation as in ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you’ or up to God ‘You are the one who saves’. How can you get across the meaning of our sin being taken away, or what it means to follow Jesus with a gesture: you can’t capture it but what can you do that shows a part of this? Having to think that through or simply doing it as you sing the words can improve your understanding more thanthe wordalone would.

• They are for everyone. There’s a reason we do action songs with kids, it’s because little ones can’t read, and while they might learn the song with enough repetition they can copy the actions straight away. For the hearing impaired actions can be a help connecting with a song (particularly if you’re church doesn’t have a sign language interpreter) and I rely heavily on sign language for action ideas. It can also help communicate ideas to foreign language speakers (as one myself, I would love to have some visual clarification on what I’m singing).

• It’s fun! Movement is good for your body, looking in front of others and not caring because they look silly too is great for your mental health. Besides when we all do it do we even look silly. For those of us who can’t carry a tune in a bucket it’slovely to be able to join in and contribute to communal sung worship. Our bodies do not merely contain or carry our sould they are one with them and can express what we’re feeling - so why would we hold back on our fullest expression during a song of praise?

Does everybody have to do actions? Does every song require actions? No, of course not. But we shouldn’t limit them just to children’s songs as though they didn’t benefit adults as well.If I’ve convinced you to try it - for yourself not just for kids - here are some ‘grown up’ songs that lend themselves well to actions:

My Lighthouse - Rend Collective
One Way, Jesus - Hillsong
Höher - ICF Worship - The German version is better than the English one If you can understand it.
Man of your Word - Maverick City Music
This I believe (The Creed) - Hillsong
Every Giant will Fall - Rend Colective

Enjoy yourself!
(and the evdence of too much enthusiasm for actions below)

Tips for Online Sunday School

It’s not an ideal situation to be in - where you can’t safely teach kids in Suday School face to face. You can’t see if they’re engaging with you, activities are tricky to organise and impossible to supervise and it’s hard to ask or answer questions - a staple for Sunday Schools!

I’ve written, prepared and filmed somewhere over thirty online Sunday School lessons now - including a few in German which I’m still not fluent in - and, through trial and error, I’ve worked out some important questions to ask myself as I prepare.

For the Story

• Where does this happen? Who is there? What has just happened? What is about to happen?

• What is the main point of the passage? (You can find more detail on this step in my ‘How to …’ guide)

• What apects of the Bble passage need to be focussed on to get this main point across? (And if it’s a long passage what can you leave out without altering the story while still supporting the point?)

• How can you best tell the story? Reading the text (from the Bible or a kids Bible), acting it out, with pictures, with playmobile or lego figures? Write with the best possible method in mind and then work out how to make it happen afterwards.

For the Talk

• Would the youngest child watching be able to hear and understand the main point?

• For older children how can you break the main point into smaller sections?

• Can you predict any problems or difficulties with this message? If so help them to deal with them now.

• What would you like them to change in their life as a result hearing this main point? Tell them and ask them about how it might look in their lives.

For Prayers, Songs and Activities.

• Do they relate to your text and support the main point?

• Can they be done without requiring special equipment?

• Do they need parents help? How can you support parents in this?

Many, many prayers for you in producing online teaching for kids - you can check out the Digital Sunday School lessons I’ve made here:
Series 1: Healing
Series 2: You Can Trust God because

Feel free to use them as they are, to watch them for inspiration before making your own, or to edit the sections you need into your own videos. Happy Teaching!

Important questions

Filming the first lesson in a new series of the Digital Sunday School this week had me rather distracted by the ‘how’ questions. How do I film my hands without a tripod? How do I make what I’m saying visually translate on to the screen? How can I make this homemade camera phone bipod stable and not casting an awkward shadow? How do I include a diverse representsion of who Christians are in this project? How will I be able to make more than one video a week? How have I lost [insert whatever I needed at that moment] again?!

To balance the self-centered and panic inducing ‘How’ questions I decided to write myself a list of important questions that I should focus on first when preparing a lesson. Yes, those how questions still need answering. But having a list like this puts them in their proper place; at the bottom of my to do list.

• Does what I’m preparing come from the Bible or from my own head?

• Is the gospel on display?

• What does God want to teach me in this?

• How can I say this in a way that a range of kids will understand?

• What are the challenges of this text?

• Am I glorifying God or myself?

• Will this build up the church, locally and worldwide?

These are probably not the only things I should be thinking about but it’s certainly a good place to start. I also have 10 steps to prepare a passage for teaching which I find helpful in prioritising these kinds of questions as well.

Some thoughts on healing

I’ve been ill for a few years now. (Don’t worry: it’s not super serious or debilitating, it’s just also not going anywhere). And creating twenty video lessons for Sunday School kids about healing made me consider what I should learn about healing. So…

• It’s good to ask for healing.
  There is definitely a part of me that doesn’t want to. Partly because I’m inspired by my friends with chronic illnesses or disabilities visibly grow closer to God through their experiences but also serve others in a way that is because of rather than instead of. Partly because miraculous healing has been concentrated in specific times in the Bible (Elijah and Elisha, Jesus, and the early church) and we’re not living in one of those times and I don’t want to ask and have God say ‘No’. But narrowing down all the healings in the Bible to just twenty took was a hard job that left me in no doubt that God, who understands and experienced suffering and pain, wants to heal us.

• Healing is not the most important thing.
  Most of the healings recorded in detail in the Bible are there to make a point, about God’s power, his character, his faithfulness. Or that Jesus is the very same God, and that the Spirit is God still at work through other people. If all I want is healing my focus is too narrow and I’ll miss him.

• Healing is for more than just our bodies.
  The most obvious example is the paralysed man who is lowered through a roof to recieve both healing and forgiveness. But I loved the chance to look at Psalm 22 and see the emotional and mental healing that David reaches out to God for. I picked Psalm 147:3 for a memory verse because God doesn’t merely bind up their wounds but he heals the broken hearted. My sorrow and suffering and mental health matter just as much to God any other parts of my body that don’t work as they should.

• One day I will be healed.
  At the moment my healing is in a ‘maybe’ state: Maybe the medicine will actually be effective all the time. Maybe we’ll recognise a trigger that I can just avoid. Maybe God will answer my prayers miraculously. Maybe I’ll have the surgery and it’ll be the rare occasion where it doesn’t need to be repeated every few years. Maybe… just maybe. DEFINATELY God is preparing a new heaven and a new earth that will be perfect in every way with no death or pain! DEFINATELY I will be made like Jesus in all ways including a resurrection body that won’t suffer decay. DEFINATELY I will live for all eternity with the God who designed and made me, the God who has healed far bigger and far worse, the perfect God who will have made all things perfect and DEFINATELY the fact that my body works again won’t even be top of the list of wonderful things in that place!

I hope that if you’ve watched the videos that your family will have been encouraged by much more than God’s ability and willingness to heal but that what I’ve learnt will help you talk about the healing side of things. I hope that if you’re disabled, chronically ill, suffering at the moment or wandering what to make of healing in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic that this will help to remind you of a few helpful truths. And for me on days when it’s particularly painful, hard to be ill or I’m feeling sorry for myself I’ve got somewhere to come and remind myself to take it all to God and leave it in his very capable hands.

A brief thought about reading the Bible

Far too often I assume that I already know what the Bible is going to say. After all, I’ve known these stories since I was a kid, I’ve read them and studied them as an adult, I’ve taught these passages to others. This is particularly true of the gospels.

So imagine my surprise at being surprised on reading John 18:15-16 and seeing that John “was known to the high priest.”

MIND BLOWN!

How was this a detail I had never noticed before?! It’s part of one of the most famous passages in the Bible! I am frequently too confident in my own abilities as a Bible student to actually see what is in the text. Shame on me that I still have this attitude. But also praise God who is still able to surprise me with the glories of his word and his plan!

***

For those of you who are interested in this detail I discovered for myself: let’s do a little bit of unpacking.

• The unnamed disciple is probably John who tends to obscure his involvement in the story (See John 19:26) and also turn up with Peter before all the other disciples (See John 20:3).

• How was this disciple known to the high priest? Well it’s not 100% clear if the high priest refferred to here is Caiaphas, who was currently serving in the role, or Annas, ex-high-priest and current father-in-law-to-the-high-priest. Either way it’s likely that he’d be known to both, whichever is particularly intended here. It’s unlikely that their lives crossed at work - I can’t see either Annas or Caiaphas buying their own fish - ad they probably weren’t chummy not least because Jesus and John are besties and the high priest is has been trying for a while to kill Jesus. They could be related; there is at least one John in the family (Acts 4:6) and names tended to be passed down. But that would make it strange that Luke doesn’t mention this while John and Peter (together again) are on trial in that chapter. Although it would make it super awkward if they were!

• Why does it matter? It’s not a big deal in the story but it does shed light on why John would include different details in his account. For instance it is only John who knows that Peter cuts off Malchus’ ear, no-one else knows his name but they do know that he’s a servant of the high priest. It also might explain why no-one challenges John as being a disciple of Jesus in the way that they do Peter. He’s known to them in a different context and might even enjoy some privilege there - after all they let a stranger in on his word.

I love the little details in the Bible, and I’m so glad that the Spirit included them. They humble me, allow me to see the reality of te events and people in the Bible and they glorify the God who pays attention to every little detail of our world.

Telling your testimony

People have, correctly, been saying for years that social media is no substitute for meaningful connection with people, and now due to a global pandemic and various degrees of quarentine the internet is the only connection we have.

One way in which we as Christians can use the phone or the internet to build relationships within our churches, Bible studies and youth groups is by sharing our testimonies - what has God been doing in our lives? This is always useful but might be especially encouraging at a time like this where getting to know someone better by casual chit-chat has been sunk by the nature and awkwardness of conference calls.

There is real power in hearing what God has been and is doing in people’s lives. When carefully told our stories counter a tendency to explain theology without being relatable; put paid to the idea that we’re somehow better than others and diminish the image of being ‘sorted’ when we still struggle. It emphasises and gives rise to questions about the gospel – forgiveness, adoption, salvation, sanctification, revelation. We can say why we believe what we believe, and shake people out of their current worldview. We can encourage, instruct and edify each other. There is power in our stories because God is powerful.

On this how to… page are some articles I found useful as well as some tips for sharing your testimony either with anyone or for getting your youth group or Bible study to think about sharing theirs.

Thoughts on bridging the gaps

It is a weird and unusual time at the moment…

First, there was the global pandemic and lockdown. Churches shut their doors, we couldn’t visit friends or family, going outside was discouraged. For me personally this hit in a strange place - we’d moved to a new country only a couple of months before (and had only briefly visited home from a different continent) so talking to family and friends solely by video call was not a new experience. I’m also an introvert who doesn’t like people touching me, so a limited social calendar and a reason not to hug made it seem like the world had been recreated to my own personal preferences. However, we’d only been here for two months and were just starting to feel like people from our church, our building and our language course were becoming friends rather than ‘people we knew’ and that was tough to navigate as our opportunities for bumping into people or getting to know them better vanished.

Then there is the belated and necessary uptake of interest in the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s meant that many of us are finally questioning the systems in which we live, how they need changing and what we can do to help, particularly in regards to race. It has probably made us all way more aware of our bubbles, our tendency to listen to people who are closer to us on any spectrum: racial, policitcal, age, even denominational.

There’s nothing new in what I’ve said here: any thoughtful commentary on our times is expressing the same things, and often doing that better.

But I was uploading a Sunday School lesson today that spoke to me particularly at this moment. John 4:1-42, Jesus talks to a Samaritan Woman at the Well.

It struck me anew how far out of his way Jesus goes to reach past the barriers that separate them from each other. He didn’t even need to be in Samaria in the first place! If I’m becoming more like Jesus, as I want to, I have to do all that I can to understand and to reach out to those who are different from me.

One of the ways I’ve looked at changing how I think, especially in seeking to understand, is by consuming content from people who are not like me. I’ve deliberately begun to seek out youtube channels, books, blogs and music from POC’s and not just those in the West. Not just on the topic of race or age or ability but on things I enjoy and have in common with them. I’ve also been educating myself on how systemic racism manifests in Britain in particular as that’s where I’m from. And thinking about where the money we donate goes in terms of supporting worldwide mission and aid agencies but also looking out for a tendancy to white saviourism.

I’m not going to make specific recommendations here as what you and I enjoy and are interested in will not be the same. But do check out my previous blog posts 5 Black Christians You Should Know and 5 Organisations Every Christian Should Know if you would like a place to start.