CF research – can you help? Mukoviszidose Forschung – könnt Ihr helfen?

[ENGLISH, for GERMAN scroll down]

Dear friends,

This is a blog post asking you for money. So if that’s a show stopper for you, please don’t read on.

Many of you will know that I have Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that is degenerative and affects mostly the lungs and the digestive system. My older sister Annette also has CF.

We are both in our 40s and relatively rare creatures, as many CF patients die much younger.

I thank God that I am reasonably well and can lead an active life. However, I have felt the effects of the disease much more in the last few years. My therapy is getting more complicated and takes up a considerable portion of my day. I am also very much aware that the overwhelming majority of CF patients are far worse off.

Last month I received intensive intravenous treatment at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. They are one of the leading CF research hospitals in the world. I am so grateful for the good care I receive from them. I am also impressed about the progress of genetic research and the possibility of “correcting” the faulty CF gene in the lungs by “smuggling in” a healthy one.

This research is now at a crucial stage.

But there aren’t enough funds to progress to the next phase.

By the end of October (i.e. in four weeks’ time), Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the only CF charity in the UK, will have to raise £6 million to allow this project to go forward. The goal is to raise £1 million of that sum through individual supporters. That’s a hugely ambitious goal and many volunteers have helped to close that gap.

This is why I am asking you to help by giving whatever amount you can. With your help I would love to raise at least £5,000 towards this shortfall.

Giving is simple. I have set up a page on a charitable giving website that will take only the smallest margin for administration. It also does not charge charities to register on their website so they have the full benefit of your donation. Your name will not be displayed – only the amount and a message (if you choose to write one).

Please go to http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/christophlindner (or click the button below) if you want to help. Thank you!

 

P.S. I would love to thank you by sending you my CD “Accidents and Emergencies” with songs that have been written over the last 10 years. The CD supports both the CF Trust and the Child Bereavement Charity. Please send us your postal address by going to the “About / Contact” page and clicking on “Contact me” and I will get the CD in the post.

 

 

[GERMAN]

Liebe Freunde,

Mit diesem Blogeintrag bitte ich Euch um eine Spende. Wenn Ihr das unangenehm findet, dann lest bitte nicht weiter.

Viele von Euch wissen, dass ich Mukoviszidose / Cystische Fibrose (CF) habe. CF ist ein Gendefekt der degenerativ ist und vor allem die Lunge und das Verdauungssystem betrifft. Meine ältere Schwester Annette hat ebenfalls CF. 

Wir sind beide in unseren Vierzigern und deshalb recht seltene Exemplare dieser Krankheit, da viele Patienten deutlich früher sterben.

Ich bin Gott so dankbar, dass es mir einigermassen gut geht und ich ein aktives Leben führen kann. Allerdings habe ich in den letzten Jahren eine deutliche Verschlechterung bemerkt – die tägliche Therapie nimmt immer mehr Zeit in Anspruch. Mir ist auch schmerzhaft bewusst, dass die überwältigende Mehrheit der CF Patienten deutlich schlechter dran ist.

Im August war ich eine Woche im Royal Brompton Krankenhaus in London zur Intensivtherapie. Das “Brompton” ist weltweit eines der führenden Forschungskrankenhäuser für CF. Ich werde dort sehr gut “versorgt” und bin beeindruckt vom Fortschritt in der genetischen CF Forschung. Die Möglichkeit das korrupte Gen in der Lunge zu korrigieren durch das Einschleusen eines normalen Gens scheint zum Greifen nahe.

Dieses Forschungsprojekt ist jetzt in einer kritischen Phase.

Aber im Augenblick gibt es nicht ausreichende finanzielle Mittel um mit dem nächsten Stadium der Patientenforschung zu beginnen.

Bis Ende Oktober muss der CF Trust (die Organisation in England die die Forschung finanziert) £6.000.000  aufbringen, damit das Projekt gestartet werden kann. Davon sollen £1.000.000 durch private Spender aufgebracht werden. Ein ehrgeiziges Ziel, bis jetzt haben hunderte von Freiwilligen geholfen, um dieses Ziel hoffentlich zu erreichen.

Deshalb bitte ich Euch mitzuhelfen, egal wie viel Ihr geben könnt. Mit Eurer Hilfe würde ich gerne mindestens £5.000 für dieses Projekt aufbringen.

Spenden ist einfach. Mit einer Kreditkarte könnt ihr direkt einen Betrag geben indem ihr auf den “Button” klickt oder zu dieser Webseite geht:

http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/christophlindner

Vielen Dank für Eure Unterstützung.

 

P.S. Ich würde gerne “Dankeschön” sagen und Euch meine CD “Notaufnahmen” als Geschenk schicken. Bitte klickt auf die Seite “About – Contact” und dann auf “Contact me”. Wenn Ihr mir damit Eure Postadresse schickt, dann kommt die CD per Post!

 

Listening to Matt Redman’s new album on Spotify Free quite a bizarre experience

Wednesday night we were at the Philo Trust’s evening with Matt and Beth Redman. Great to hear their story, how God redeems our past and also to listen to some of the new songs from Matt’s new album. So this morning during breakfast Edda and I listened to the album on Spotify Free.
We love the album. Fresh, passionate, many songs that I imagine will be very singable in church.
And then, after every second or third song there is a commercial break.
One is for a new exclusive night club in London.
Others are for various retail therapies promising to spice up your life.
Another one from the police, warning you not to flash your latest iPod around while you are out and about.
And then back to intimate or exuberant praise of our amazing God.
First I was pretty annoyed at the interruptions.
But then I thought that this actually represents our life as Christ followers quite accurately: We always live in this tension of worship and “world”. Worship can never just be a way to shut out the reality of a broken world, to medicate our painful Monday to Saturday existence. Surely it needs to infuse all we do and speak into the dark places. Of course this happens every time someone is fired up by a time of joint worship and then goes out to be a witness to a God who cares. Sometimes it happens when a non-Christian encounters vibrant worship and is overwhelmed by the presence of God (one of the members of our church who also came to the Redmans interview this Wednesday had exactly this experience some years ago at a Matt Redman concert!).We’ve got to make sure that our worship “leaves the building” and use our best thinking, praying and creativity to find new ways for this. Any ideas welcome!
By the way, I’ve just ordered the new Matt Redman album, so I can listen to it and worship along without the commercial breaks

Creative lessons from Mumford&Sons

Interesting blog article by Jeff Goins on what Mumford & Sons have taught him about writing (Great blog for writers, read the full article here: http://goinswriter.com/mumford-and-sons-writing/)

I resonate with several of his points: Everyone loves stories, transparency is essential, people are fascinated with the divine. These are some key ingredients of good preaching, too. Wasn’t so sure about his first point, though: Never underestimate the power of a well-placed expletive. There seems to be a bit of a renaissance of using expletives in hip Christian circles, rather than just sanitised, bland, clichéd language. 

How does that go with the Bible’s advice? “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter 4, verse 6). Quite a challenge to be full of grace and ‘salty’ at the same time…

I know that in a private, safe setting I sometimes enjoy using ‘strong’ words -simply because they make an impact, and it feels a little bit naughty (naughty boy syndrome). I also remember having to clean up my act when first coming to England, because middle-class people here (and especially the Christian variety) were much more squeamish – especially about the S*** word which was quite common in Germany (and often said in English by younger people!).

Some years ago (while still living in Germany) I wrote a song that (I think) tells a story and is transparent about human struggles. And it actually ends with a couple of pretty strong word, not expletives, but it certainly ends the song with a bang. An English minister of a church, where I sang this song (not in the service, but an after-service concert) still remembers the song today – because of the second-last word! (And I do think that the other word before that was horribly overdone, by the way)…

So, maybe I have become a little bit too tame and well-adjusted. Jesus was good at telling stories and rattling people’s preconceptions (“It has been said … but I tell you…”). Telling a story with a big “aha” effect at the end is still one of the most effective ways of communicating.

So – what was that word at the end of my song? You’ll have to listen to it, mate!

(“Single Case” – Christoph with his band “Oskar” in 1998)

Single Case by Christoph Lindner With Oskar Listen on Posterous

Love between husband and wife cannot be self-sufficient – Bishop Richard Chartres at Royal Wedding

“As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, and mutual forgiveness, to thrive…” Bishop Richard Chartres, sermon at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine

Bluebells, Hedgerley

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Bluebells, Hedgerley

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuynLLq

Shame about the slogan at the end. Apart from that – simply mesmerising: Bach on gravity marimba