August 2010...

Editorial...

To me, DVD box sets are one of the best inventions of the last decade. Call me sad but I love to spend hours getting to know new friends and then following their every move to the point of obsession. On a weekend a whole day can disappear playing the ‘just one more episode’ game. One more is never enough.

My latest addiction is a brilliant show called 'Friday Night Lights' which follows a football team and their coach in a small American town. It probably doesn’t sound that exciting but believe me – it’s GOOD! Well shot, well-acted, inventive storylines, interesting characters – it’s got it all.

And I LOVE watching how the football team coach interacts with his 15 year old daughter. In every conversation – whether he’s giving her advice or telling her off, you can just tell he loves her. Really loves her. She’s the apple of his eye and even when she’s behaving badly, he can’t help but love her.

So while the hours tick by as I watch yet another episode I can at least justify my TV watching by knowing I’m catching just a glimpse of God’s Father heart as I watch the coach. Tenuous? Possibly. But a friend told me God spoke to her this week through a bottle of wine (and yes it was before she drank any of it!). The truth is that God can speak to us anywhere, through anything and if we’re open to him he will. So how will he speak to you this summer?

Maybe you’re getting all packed and ready to come to Soul Survivor and are excited about how God will meet with you there. Brilliant! We can’t wait to see you. We know that God can meet us when there are thousands of us gathered in a tent together worshipping and we love it! But we also know that he’ll meet with us all over site, whether we’re queuing up to buy a burger, chatting with a friend in a café or taking part in the ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition.

Or maybe you can’t make it to any summer festivals and you’re feeling a bit low about it. So how about asking God to open your eyes and ears to see and hear him speak in another way? Ask him to reveal something of himself to you so that you can get to know him better. I bet you’ll be amazed at how you hear his voice when you’re watching a film, listening to some music, chatting with your best mate or even your mum.

God loves chatting to us, revealing his character and his ways to us. He loves to surprise us and if we’re open he’ll speak to us in amazing ways so let’s make sure we don’t box him in and only look for him in the obvious. Let’s seek him in every situation and be open to however he wants to speak. And of course, if you want to absolutely guarantee hearing God’s voice, don’t forget to check out the brilliant 'Friday Night Lights'!

As for the rest of the imag this month, we’ve got some brilliant new articles for you! Our mate Robbie has a think about identity, our usual editor Dan takes a long, hard look at the tricky subject of suffering, Patrick Regan from XLP tells us what’s behind the headlines on gangs and Chris Russell finishes up his three-part series on Daniel.  We hope you can take a few minutes to read and listen and that God speaks to you on these pages and in loads of other ways over the summer! 

Liza
editor@soulsurvivor.com