the real Chris Marsh

I count myself of one of the privileged few to have been able to observe Vicky Beeching’s journey in ministry from its early beginnings all those years back at youth group in Canterbury. Even then, she had a quiet soul and a gentle spirit, and above all the heart of a true worshipper. In fact, it was during a Christian Union weekend away 15 long years ago that I borrowed her guitar briefly and strummed out the two chords I knew, which was the catalyst that pushed me to learn properly and ultimately pursue what became a clear call on my life to go into ministry, bringing me to where I am today leading the worship ministry at St James in Pimlico, London! What a journey! But that was back in 1995 – new things were happening in worship; Delirious were big news, Soul Survivor had birthed Matt Redman’s ministry, and was already raising up a young Tim Hughes.

Vicky’s not just a worship leader, or even simply a great songwriter – she’s a theologian. Oxford trained, no less, she’s not afraid to bring the occasional weightier concepts of God alongside tried-and-tested words of Biblical truth. Just as Phil Wickham manages to use certain picture language in his songs that sometimes feel a little out of place in a traditional worship song, Vicky provocatively uses words and images that cause the mind to stumble briefly before carrying on – something I think we all sorely need in a culture where challenge isn’t always that trendy.

As she sings on her newly released EP,  in Blessing And Honour, “The atmosphere is changing as eternity invades / And suddenly above us the floor of heaven breaks…”, the words invite the power of the Holy Spirit to break through. It’s big, it’s powerful, it’s challenging, and it has to be my stand-out track -  with the kind of chorus/bridge I just can’t wait to let loose on a congregation sometime soon! It’s exactly the kind of worship song that leaves me thinking ‘Drat, now why didn’t I come up with that?’

The sound is modern, the production is tight, and Vicky’s songwriting has clearly been influenced by the CCM circles she’s found herself in since relocating to the States. The end of Deliverer bears a passing resemblance to It’s Your Love off last year’s Hillsong offering, Faith+Hope+Love, but that doesn’t stop it from being a well defined hook that stays in your head for some time.

The EP is available now on iTunes, and at £1.79, it’s a snip.

As a bit of a fan of X Factor 2008’s Diana Vickers, who came fourth in that competition, it came as great delight to me to hear she would be treading the boards of the Vaudeville Theatre to star in Jim Cartwright’s The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice.

Unsure how she would hold up in a singing/acting role, it was a pleasant surprise that Vickers held her own very well, giving a strong but necessarily understated performance. The meatier acting roles were handled deftly by a small but strong cast; Lesley Sharp was a tour de force as LV’s burnt out slapper of a mother, who barely stops to draw breath, and Marc Warren plays a loveable but altogether mercenary talent scout.

A nice touch was having the curtains up five minutes before the second half, introducing us to the club scene, with a drums-and-keys combo rattling out some particularly cheesy lounge nonsense.

The show runs until the end of January before Vickers goes back to the studio to complete her debut album, before starting on her first tour. Given her vocal performances from the opportunities provided here, she should become a real star.

someone put a tiny model of a man in an armchair on to of a bus stop by the Oval. Why?

As things come to a close for this year, and indeed this decade, I should at least acknowledge some things that have happened, and what I am looking forward to…

• Had an eventful year of work – yes I was in work all year, despite the recession! That said, having grown in ministry and personhood, I have come to the end of the year having lost a vicar and an associate minister, and the weight of that on my work has been significant. But powerful.
• Music has been an interesting one – not much of note has appeared, but there has definitely been some interesting work going around. Watch out for my yearly roundup coming soon.
• As a performer, I experienced the highs and lows of running an open mic night in central London – no easy task, and the location was also a tricky one. I’ll be giving it another go in the new year, and will be making an extra effort to get performing more regularly around the city.
• Looking ahead; I’m so full of vision and ambition. I often have to calm myself and take stock of what I am currently faced with. Even so, I’m definitely looking ahead to the further possibilities that lie before me, and I want to do the absolute best I can with whatever I am faced with.

Following a friend’s recommendation, I have been listening to “The Gospel According to Jazz”, by Bill Carter and the Presbybop Quartet. In places it’s a little overdramatic, and occasionaly the jazz can be a bit trite, but for jazz lovers it’s a great way to listen to the gospel in a new way.

I’m fairly sure I’ve not been fully well for about a month. I’m usually a very healthy person, so it’s annoying to have to deal with a relentless cold. I hope I can use these next days to recuperate and maybe even find a few little revelations through the chance to meditate of the Creator…

As an aspiring blogger, I’ve always been keen to try to make notes on things that might be inspiring, thought provoking, and helpful. I’m not sure I’ve really been managing that recently. Of course, it’s always far to easy to let your current situation overwhelm and dictate the way you do things.

I’ve been really struck recently by the use of the word ‘love’, and how it so often becomes a cover-all for things we don’t like, or some kind of self-justification for all the dreadful things we are actually doing – “because at least, deep down, we love each other and are doing our best!”

Tish, pshaw and nonsense. When Jesus told us to love each other just as He has loved us, what did that really mean? I mean, when you stop and think about it, that means that for Jesus, loving someone meant tipping over their tables, rejecting what they currently perceived, albeit wrongly, as their chosen method of making income. Loving someone meant looking them in the eye and saying “Get behind me, Satan!”, risking them taking on all kinds of fear and rejection. Loving us meant not falling in line to the assumptions of those around Him about who He might be and what He was going to do – it meant instead of rising up and leading a coup against the Roman oppression, He submitted to those very oppressing hands to be strung up and effectively murdered in a public display of ‘justice’.

To love does not mean buying everyone a giant, pink, fluffy Forever Friends card at Clintons.

To love is to risk rejection, pain, misunderstanding, confusion, and despair.

But we love because it’s worth it. And the benefits far outweigh the sufferances.

Or, as it appears to be called here, “Golden Bay”. Make no mistake, this is the place to go for a suntan. Or in our cases, a kind of painful salmon coloured blotchiness.
Actually Abi has done very well for herself soaking up the sun, but today we were both left feeling at least a little sore.
The Bay itself is outstanding. A relatively small enclave which, despite the difficulty to get onto a bus which wasn’t packed full, is not overpopulated. I made sure of hiring a beach umbrella, without which I would have found myself in a lot more discomfort later on. The sea was wonderful. I swam in it no less than four times, and enjoyed every moment, floating in the bouyant and blue waters, surrounded with high rolling rock faces and the sun falling down, gently warming the water to a beautiful temperature. It was the kind of sea swimming I have wanted to try forever.

Yesterday we took our chances on the local public transport, mad old buses which we have heard so much about. They do throw you about a bit but they do get you there. In this case, ‘there’ was Malta’s capital city, Valetta. On the one hand it was bustling and touristy, yet on the other it was populated with locals, many of whom seemed to be visiting from other parts of the island. We had a brief look around at some of the architecture, then ducked into a well covered open air cafe. I’ve become quite partial to the local soft drink, ‘Kinnie’, which, as a slightly rough round the edges welsh lady described it, is “a bit mad.”
A bit mad it is too, but very good, a kind of intense herbal kick coupled with a flavour which must be some sort of sun dried/caramelised orange affair.
I will certainly look it up on returning to London; no doubt there is a bar somewhere run by a crazy Maltese gent.

Today we found a fantastic little enclave in St Paul’s Bay. It was a little rocky but well worth the effort, to be so isolated from the general masses. Then we wandered along a little way back to where the public were swimming in the sea, and we decided to have a go. It was glorious, not cold at all, crystal clear. Also fascinating us where the sea has retreated to form pools of seawater which dry out in the sun to leave sea salt deposits. I tasted some, and it was delicious!