Well, Happy New Year all,

I hope you've had a great Christmas and an even better New Year. With the end of present-opening comes the inevitable new-years resolutions. We are now in a change of year, change of season and hopefully the changes of some attitudes.

The Campaign is gearing up for a great year. I'm excited to think that by the end of this year we might have seen real victory in the area we are seeking to change. Our goal remains singular and clear: We want to see all magazine and publications which contain explicit images displayed in it's own 'Modesty Wrap'. This, in essence, is a black cover or bag which the magazines are sold in. It reveals nothing other than the title of the magazine and, subsequently, protects the eyes of youngsters and the minds of adults.

We are not saying "stop selling these magazines", and we are not trying to stop shops making money. However, we recognise the need for shops that sell these magazines to take responsibility toward the communities that they choose to place themselves within.

Currently, we have a Facebook Page set up at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-Modesty-Wraps-Law/272264356165952. We also have an e-petition running until the end of March this year, and you can add your name to the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25536. Finally, we are badgering twitter with our #makemodestywrapslaw hashtag. If you use Social Media in any form then it would be great if you could start passing these links around, and get others to do the same.

I have also emailed my local MP, Bob Walter, about this very issue at my local Co-Operative store (the store that started this whole campaign!). He has, in turn, emailed Mr Peter Marks, the CEO of The Co-Operative and is awaiting a response. If there's a little activist inside of you wanting to get out, then you can also email your local MP and Mr Marks and add your voice to increasing groundswell of support. His email is: peter.marks@co-operative.coop

I have also made contact on twitter today with Billy Bragg, Jamie Oliver and Eddie Izzard. These are three people who have already proven themselves capable of taking on a battle or two in the public arena. I would love to hope that they respond and, better, choose to help support the campaign. If you can think of other people we can approach, then we would love to hear from you.

We have general support across Twitter and Facebook, but we also need more...much, much more. You might not be an activist (I'm REALLY not), but you can play your part. Start talking about these topics...they DO affect you! get the word out, start conversations and pass around these links. If you use Social Media, then start talking about this thing on your pages and accounts. You can also email your local MP about the issue in general...the more they hear about it in parliament the greater the chance that things will change quickly.

You know what? We can make a change in 2012...it's not a hopeless cause. It's something tangeable and achievable. Our question to you is...will you help? If not, why not?

Thanks for reading, and we look forward to hearing your stories of success.

As I sit here typing, the 'Modesty Wrap' campaign is going well. So far, we've created an e-petition which will be sent off to the UK Government, and we have received 224 signatures in just over a week. Yes, we've got some way to go, but we're moving forward...and thats a good thing! I'd like 1000 names by Christmas, so let's get signing!!

The link to the e-petition is here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25536

We've also created a Facebook Page dedicated to the campaign, and have 54 members so far. I would really like to see 100+ members before Christmas, so if you feel like getting behind a cause then this is a really good one to get behind. I'm trying to document everything that is going on with the campaign as and when it happens...the Facebook page will be a good place to check out information.

The link to the Facebook Page is here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/138050672971439/

I've emailed the CEO of The Co-Operative, in order to make him aware of the campaign. If you would like to email him also, then please note that his email address is:

peter.marks@co-operative.coop

Email him and let him know that you're concerned with how they display these magazines. With enough emails hitting his inbox, something is bound to happen!

I've also emailed my local MP, Bob Walter to make him aware of the issue, as well as posting on HIS Facebook page.

I've got all manner of people supporting the campaign, from activists to Feminist groups, Charities to ordinary people in the street, like you and me. Slowly, but surely we are making our voice heard, and I'm excited about it!

Recently, I've been in conversations with a number of people who either show a negative reaction to the campaign, or who cant understand why we would tackle an issue that is both the mainstream norm, and something so big it seems impossible to change. Let me take this opportunity to explain how I see the problem...

These are CHILDREN we're talking about here...your children and my children. These are kids that cannot defend themselves because they're too young to do so. They have no voice at this age and need parents and grown-ups to stand up for them in issues they dont understand but will be influenced by. Yes, I understand that there is a wider and more concerning issue of sex slavery, traffiking and the like...but this is something local that we can make ourselves heard about.

I hate the fact that my kids cannot avoid this material if they want to go buy a comic. I hate the fact that children's perception of what is the sexual norm is being dictated to by magazines like Lads Mags and the internet. Yes, parents need to take a more hands-on approach to these topics, but we're being forced to deal with the issues at younger and younger ages. A lot of this material is being peddled in front of childrens eyes for the sake of the bottom line. This is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH. It's irresponsible and immoral.

Newsagents, local shops and supermarkets have an ethical and moral responsibility toward the community they choose to place themselves within, and have focussed too much on profit to be concerned with the ramifications of the message these magazines push out to our children.

So, I'm standing up for my kids and I'll stand up for yours. If I stand alone, then I stand alone and that's the way it will have to be. But I WILL stand up and shout for my children because I dont think it's right. Just because it seems to be the norm does not make it ok!

Will you stand with me? If so, then get behind the campaign. You can sign the petition, you can join the facebook page and you can start pushing these links to pretty much anyone you know. Numbers are important, and will show those in charge that people (customers) DO care, and they want change.

Thank you for supporting it....let's get more people involved.

I write this blog post after a morning of conversations between 4 quite different people. We sat in Costa Coffee and talked about this and that. Many topics were on the table, one of these topics was the force for change that Social Media can invoke.

This, in particular, struck a chord with me as I have been involved in an on-going effort to force a change in our local store. This is my story:

In October of 2008 my local Co-Operative store underwent a refurbishment as part of their update rollout across the country. The end result of the refurbishment, was that the magazine display stand was the first thing you would see as you entered the store. I am assuming that it was a 'strategic' move to place the soft-porn 'lads mags' (Nuts, Zoo, Loaded, etc) directly in line with the entrance, and the console 'gaming' magazines placed next to them. Despite the explicit nature of both the magazines and their front covers no attempt had been made to hide the covers from the visitors to the store walking in. All of the magazine covers in question can be very explicit in nature, leaving nothing to the imagination.

I first approached one of the store workers to ask whether the covers could be hidden or 'wrapped' to hide their explicit nature. I was informed that he would speak to the manager and see what could be done. Nothing was done and, after a month or so of waiting, I then decided to contact The Co-Operative head office.

I first spoke to a gentleman who informed me that he would speak to the buying and trade departments to see what could be done. After a number of months and various unresponded emails it was clear that The Co-Operative were not interested in the complaint.

Since 2008, there have been peaks and troughs with my attempts to force a change in The Co-Operative's best practice. It's now 2011 and nothing has changed whatsoever. Almost every email has been ignored completely and to this day I await a response from an email I sent in April of Last year. 

This company has made its name from trading as an 'ethical' company, and yet it is happy to push soft pornography to small children, and seems not to care about the people within the community they have chosen to place themselves within.

So, I am now reaching out to YOU! This is a situation that simply cannot continue. It's inappropriate and morally wrong for an 'ethical company' to trade like this and not take responsibility for the products they choose to sell, in the fashion that they do. I am not asking them to stop selling the magazines (although it would be good if they did!)...I am merely asking them to wrap the covers in such as way so that minors can only see the title of the magazine.

Please, please, PLEASE get this story out into the arena of Social Media. Let's say to The Co-Operative that it's NOT ok to display sexually provocative material in a way that allows young children to see it. Get this blog post out and get people talking about it. Let's try and make a difference for our children.

I need you, and I thank you.

Make the difference!

As you will be aware, over the last 4 nights we in the UK have watched with stunned horror as a disillusioned and detached generation riot, loot and burn homes & shops in and around the UK, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and a few places. A week ago we could not have imagined such depravity and wilful lawlessness on the streets of the UK in the way we have experienced over the last few nights.

Transfixed on news channels and social media we watch as basic common decency and respect are pushed aside in favour of greed, anarchy and a selfish desire to wield fear in the face of a public and police force that have, as yet, to stop them.

As I'm sure you will be the same, I've watched the news, dissminated the information, and judged those involved guilty of such heanous crimes. I found myself prouncing the judgements and the punishments in favour of heavy-handed retaliation such as baton rounds (plastic bullets) and water cannons. I've agreed with what I've heard and seen from others who offer their own judgements and punishments.

I think, in fairness, we are probably right to make those judgments, based on what we've seen and heard. When we think about people being mocked as they hide in their homes and businesses, see people being openly mugged, and listen to the looters laugh out "I'm not going to stop stealing until I'm caught" we would be right to make the assertion that any force necessary to bring this to a close is acceptable.

Yes, we would be right in making these judgments, wouldn't we?

In the middle of these riots, however, I begin to notice some very worrying parallels. As I watch a news report, where looters are arrogantly walking down the street, carrying the HD television they have just stolen, I begin to think about MY arrogance. Yes, I can be honest and say that it catches me by surprise, but it's undeniable...I am an arrogant and proud man. As I watch with shock at the audacity of the looters to think they have a right to take whatever they want, I am reminded that I am also a very selfish person. Of course it goes without saying that I dont like to think of myself as such...but I'm sad to say that it's true.

In fact, I've yet to see an attitude in any one of the rioters that I dont possess. Shocking as it is, this is simply the case. Of course, I'm not going to break into a shop and steal some goods, but I am saddened to remember that I already knew these character traits were already in me.

Please dont get me wrong. I'm sure that I'm just preaching to myself, or maybe I'm having a mini-revelation that the rest of the world already had. However, what I feel today is of consequence and of the utmost importance to us all.

We have the propencity to point the finger, whether rightly or wrongly and pronounce our judgments on those either in the wrong or in sin (is there a difference). Yet, like myself, we so often neglect to remember the state of our own hearts. 

Genesis 6:5
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"
 

God is speaking about you and me here. It's really not nice to think of ourselves this way, but scripture is undeniable about who we are as a people group. God knows the very number of the hairs on our heads, and he knows what our characters are like. He knows what I am like. I cant escape it...try as I might to hide it away or mask it in a veil of righteousness. Even on my BEST day, God says that my best works are like filthy menstrual rags...thats on my BEST day. It's horrible for me to think about this stuff, but I must. I need to remind myself of who I am as a person, not who I fancy myself to be.

I understand at this point that you might want to close down your browser window and go do something a little less heavy, but I implore you to wait for a second longer. The reason I MUST remind myself of what my nature is like, is so that I can appreciate who God is, what he has done and why he has done it. If I neglect to remind myself of how stained my character is, then I cannot appreciate the grace that God has so quickly given me.

Here's something else I can remind myself of. Every single aspect of my dirtied nature...my arrogance, haughtiness, pride, bitterness, anger, resentment, greed, lust, wanton self-appreciation (you get the idea!), Jesus took upon himself when he chose to go to the cross. Every single thing that I do, I naturally do against God and his ways of doing things. My natural self is a person of rebellion, bent on doing my own things my own way. You only have to watch the news at the moment to see this. Rioters and looters doing what they want because no-one is able to stop them. There is no self-restraint....and there is no self-restraint in me. I'm a rebel!

Yet despite this, Jesus looks at me and says "I take your sin upon myself. I pay your debt for you". No, this doesn't fill me with over-exhuberant joy and jubilation, because I simply cant get my head around the implications of what it means for me in its fullest. However, I can accept that it is true.

I'm acutely aware on most days, that there is a difference between the person I want to be and the person I am. The person I want to be is the guy that lives a righteous and holy life, loving God with all his heart and leading the family around the dinner table in prayer. The person I wants to be has it all worked out, spends hours in joyful study of the scriptures and takes time every day to bask in the glory of God as I worship him with all my heart.

However, most days I struggle to get to grips with the truth of the gospel, try as best as I can to hear what God is saying to me through his word and struggle to overcome the many and various sins in my life. No, I'm not the guy I want to be, but I'm the guy that God loves. Simply knowing that means that I'm not done for. I know I'm saved and I know that I'm a work in progress, and it can mean that YOU are a work in progress also.

So, I continue to watch the news of the riots and the looting and remember just what I can be like. I'm trying not to judge too harshly, and hope that God deals with me a little better than I deserve.

Mike

Meh, it was ok!

Something happened at my sons' leaving graduation ceremony yesterday...and it's got me thinking.

I'm sitting with the very lovely Mrs B, and watching my son and his school year share stories, sing songs, read out a poem and offer thoughts about their previous year in 'Primary' school. Since this was my sons final year in Primary education, some of his friends were sharing about what it was like to have spent the last 6 years at one school. It was very moving, very funny, and very poignant at times.

Toward the end of the hour-long ceremony each child was to walk to front, one-by-one and receive a bible, a year photo and a 'Certificate of Achievement'. So, one at a time, we watched each child stand, walk to the front, shake the Headmistress' hand, receive their goodies, then sit back down. We shed a tear when the others cried, we smiled when the children showed clear excitement in receiving their goodies, and then beamed from ear to ear when our son, Lewie, stood to receive his photo, certificate and the 'well done' handshake.

Then something completely unexpected happened...

Towards the end of the ceremony a small, rather plump and (dare I say it) geeky-looking kid stood up. He walked slowly to the side of the other children, started moving around to the front of the stage....then spun round and moon-walked to the headmistress (I'm not even making this up!). This out-of-place kid did something that I dont think will ever leave me.

It was in that moment he encapsulated for me what it means to live a life for Christ.

If you're anything like me, you spent a fair bit of your walk with God trying to either fit in or make Jesus relevant to the people living and working around you. You've maybe stopped yourself from using cliche, Christian phrases in order to make Christianity seem less wierd than you think people see it. You've tried to be cool AND Christian at the same time...something few of us actually achieve deliberately!!

You've maybe quietened down certain aspects of doctrine in order to not offend friends, family and colleagues. You've tried to make Jesus a 'one size fits all' character, and if you've done any of this you've realised how futile it is!

It was in the moon-walking schoolchild that I realised living for Jesus means that I'll never fit into culture, and will probably never make Jesus 'cool'. Why is this? Well, I think it's because Jesus was never relevant or cool...because he never came to be such. Jesus knew that his life and his example wouldn't be accepted by the majority of the people. He was ok with that, and so should we be! 

I think John 15 says it best:

"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

It took me a long time to get over the fact that not everyone would like me...even less people would like me because I was a Christian. They would see me as arrogant, bigoted and narrow-minded. I think it's because Jesus came across the same way. However, it's so vitally important that we understand the implications of this.

Yes, it means going against culture and against what the accepted norm is. It will probably mean persecution and ostracisation to some degree, but we hold fast to Jesus because we know the truth of who he is and what he has done. We rejoice in Gods salvation, justification and restoration. We are changed by the Holy Spirit, who has made his home in each and every one of us and, in the way of the Shulamite bride we cry out "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"

Jesus came to bring life, not the latest fad, trend or hip thing. Jesus chose to come to a depraved, sinful world because he knew it was the only way we could be saved by a payment of blood. Does that make him cool? No, not at all. Does it make him relevant? Probably not, because we live in a world that (by and large) doesn't think it's inherantly bad and doesn't need saving. Does it make Jesus hip? Thankfully not, despite the plethora of t-shirts that will try and tell you that He's your homeboy! Jesus came against culture by living against culture. He came and was so very different.

If Jesus and the moonwalking schoolchild can do it, I reckon we can too?

So...

For the last 3 years I've been metaphorically beating on the doors of The Co-Operative, here in the UK. I've been trying to get changes made to their policy of how they display inappropriate magazines on their display stands.

Currently, they display all these magazines on the highest shelf, no more than 6ft in height, and have displayed them directly opposite the main entrance, so that any child of any age can see the images displayed on the front covers. I've asked them, and asked them to at least wrap the magazines in a sleeve, so that the images are not visible and, 3 years later, am only slightly nearer than where I was back then!

What has been incredibly difficult is that they will consistently ignore my many emails, and will offer no response to any question I pose to them. It's been a long road, and I feel the effects of fighting a "good fight" quite often.

Tonight, I have drafted one final email, where I have the same old ground to the same person. This time, I have sternly asked for the information or have threatened with an official complaint, naming this lady personally. So then, could I ask for your prayers on the matter. I know that, in myself, I have no strength or power to affect any change, but I know that with God all things are possible!

Please pray for:

1) Changes take place quickly to have all magazines covered, showing only the title of the magazine

2) That I receive a quick response to my email, and that NO official complaint has to be made.

3) That God keeps me humble through the situation and, like Job, would not "sin in all these things"

Thank you for your time and your prayers!

Greetings friends!

I'm part of a team who are going to build additional and much improved facilities at an orphanage on the outskirts of Port Au Prince in Haiti. The build will take place in the Autumn and consist of 3 bedrooms and a small kitchen. 

The children’s charity Bright Tomorrows has been involved in Haiti since the earthquake, developing strong links with an organisation called Mission Rescue and supporting children who have been orphaned or whose mothers are unable to care for them. The charity has bought tents for families and children, funds a breakfast club before school for local children and also supports children’s education by paying school fees. 

Recently, Bright Tomorrows has been looking for ways in which resources could be utilised to help make a long term difference in Haiti. Due to extreme poverty which has been exacerbated by the earthquake, many orphanages are desperately struggling to provide the children with the care they need. They have also had an influx of children due to so many losing parents in the quake. At one orphanage we were particularly shocked by the poor living conditions and lack of sanitation for the 45 children there. We believe that building larger and better facilities will be the most productive way of being able to improve the quality of life for the 45 children living here and making a permanent difference in Haiti.  

I am one of 14 volunteers who will return to Haiti in October to build three new bedrooms and a small kitchen. This will effectively double the number of bedrooms (currently there are 12 children to a room, sleeping on the floor) and give them a functioning kitchen area.  Bright Tomorrows is currently raising the £7,000 needed to complete this project and all the volunteers must cover the cost of their own flights through fund raising/sponsorship. 

I'm blogging about this project, in the hope that some of you may see the vision of what we're going to do and decide to help us in the project. In fairness to you, I'm going to come straight out with it and say "I want your money!". The work we're going to be carrying out is so desperately needed and will bring a great deal of relief to some very beautiful children.

I'm personally looking to raise in the region of £1500 - £2000 ($2500 - $3000). If you can help, or know of anyone who might be able to help the project financially, then PLEASE get in contact with me for more details. You can contact me on twitter via @mikebeecham, or email me personally on teambeecham@googlemail.com.

Please take a little time to consider helping us....large or small any amount you can give will help.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Mike

I've been reading through the bible this year, as a challenge to myself to complete it.  A guy called Dave Bish (@davebish_ on Twitter) challenged me to read through the bible from cover to cover, and I took up the challenge!

So far it's been great, and God has blessed me in it.  I've enjoyed reading from book to book, taking in the truths inside the pages and discovering more of Gods love than I imagined I would do.  Then I came upon 2 Chronicles 20:33!  

Throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles, it details a bunch of kings who ruled over Israel and Judah, most of which did 'evil' in the sight of the Lord apart from a small number who did all that was good in God's eyes.

Well, we then come to King Jehoshaphat!  The books of Kings and Chronicles talks briefly about Jehoshaphat in a very interesting way.  Scripture says the following in verse 33:

"Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah.  He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem.  His mothers' name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.  He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.  The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers"

This passage really started getting me thinking...How could Jehoshaphat do all that was good in the sight of the Lord, yet not do the obvious thing and remove all of the high places, idols, places of worship, baals, asherim poles, etc?  How was it possible that he did ALL that was good in the sight of the Lord and somehow miss this important act?

I guess to a degree I have no answer yet (more study coming!), but what it did do is get me thinking about my own walk with the Lord.  I know that I'm only saved by grace, and I know that on my best day my greatest acts are like dung to Him.  It is only by his grace that I'm doing well at all...HE gets the glory, not me.

However, in my day to day walk with Jesus I now have to ask "Are there high places of worship in my life that I simply haven't removed?  Are there areas of my life, where I've said to Jesus "this is mine"?  If you're similar to me you dont like to think that you hold anything back from Jesus, but I'm sure there are high places in my life that I should have tore down a long time ago and just left it to 'grace' to deal with.  Could it be that I've absolved myself of the responsibility of putting these things to death, because "grace covers a multitude of sins"?

So I now wonder what these high places, or 'baals' could be?  I guess the simplest answer would be to say that anything which exalts itself highly in our lives that does not glorify Jesus, something which takes our attention away from Jesus, or something which deliberately stands against Jesus would be a high place.  These are going to be varied and different, depending on who we are.

The answer, I would argue, is that we ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom.  In doing so, we are better able to recognise these high places in our lives, and then get to repenting of them.  It might mean great sacrifice for some of us (especially if the high place were to be something like finances, or treasured possessions), but if that thing takes greater place in our lives than Jesus, or if Jesus is not allowed access to that area...then surely it has to go?

I leave those questions to you to ponder and pray yourselves...it's certainly got me thinking!