Out of control

There have been a couple of occasions recently where for some people life has taken a sudden turn for the worse and they've been left wondering what on earth has gone wrong. Suddenly they are not in control of a situation - and begin to feel vulnarable.

Firstly there was the first election debate in the UK. The two main parties thought it was a two horse race and they could quite happily concentrate on countering their perceived enamy whilst ignoring the third party. But then it all went horribly wrong as Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats came out on top. They'd also thought that this debate would have little impact on national poll trends..........but it had a massive effect, and now the main parties are on the back foot, not totally in control despite their massive election budgets.

Then there was the confusion over the Icelandic dust cloud over Europe. Holiday makers stranded all over the world making heroic and sometimes very expensive attempts to get home without air travel, whilst governments struggled to work out if it was safe to fly through this volcanic dust cloud. No one seemed to know the answer, no one was in control!

It was the fear of the unknown and the fear of making a decision that could cost lives if it all went wrong. Now with planes in the air again there follows the recriminations and the debates as to what went wrong and why it was allowed to go wrong for so long.

In times of uncertainty it is good to have One who we can rely on!

Cornerstone and stumbling stone

Palm Sunday today and I was preaching on Luke's retelling of the story, which ends with Jesus saying that if his disciples didn't shout out 'Halleluia!'  then the stones they were walking upon certainly would.  

Thoughts then turned to Psalm 118 which talks of the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone, and a theme started emerging  - Jesus is the cornerstone, of our faith and of the church. But, says Peter, Jesus is not only the cornerstone, he's also a stumbling stone!

Jesus a stumbling stone or block - how can that be?

1 Peter 2:4-6  As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

   "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for."

Because Jesus, the cornerstone, is still a stumbling block to many and not just outside of the church. Even within our churches there are many who still struggle with the idea of Jesus as Messiah, Saviour. They struggle with the whole idea of sin and the need for God to go through this incredible process of coming to earth as flesh and blood and enduring suffering and death so that we (and that’s the whole of humanity) might be made right with him again, as it was in the beginning, to be made righteous, forgiven and receive the promise of eternal life. If that sounds a bit heavy and theological then I don’t apologise because that’s the core of Christianity. We are the prodigals; God is the loving father who welcomes us home!

The problem is that many people have a distorted view of God, that he is somehow distant and remote. That he set the world in motion and then stepped back and let it get on with life; that he doesn’t get involved in the day to day of existence, in the nitty-gritty of everyday life. They have a distorted view of what being a Christian is all about, in the sense that it’s more about me than anyone else – what benefit, what comfort can I get from it? And they have a distorted view of what God expects from us – what can I do to make God love me more, or what could I do that would make God love me less?

Does that sound a bit severe an assessment? It’s actually the way a lot of people who call themselves Christians live out their faith. Every time you say to yourself ‘I don’t like those modern hymns or songs!’ or ‘God wouldn’t be interested in my problems’ or ‘I ought to be a better human being if I expect God to bless me!’ you’re in danger of tripping over that stumbling stone, rejecting the one who rode into Jerusalem to the sound of people’s praise, and so soon afterwards died for you and I.

Jesus rode into town as the King of Peace, he suffered rejection and humiliation at the hands of people like you and I and died the death of a common criminal. Why? So that you and I might open our eyes and see that God so loved the world so much, so loved you and I and those sat next to us and the whole of humanity that he was prepared to become flesh and blood and poor out that blood on a cruel cross to show you how much he wants to be a part of your life.

A new ebook!

This book has been on the go for some time, and I'm really pleased with the outcome!

Still very much influenced by the prayers of the early Christians in this country, I've given this one a basic theme of journeying with God through the day from waking to sleep

This time, not all the prayers are on the website, so you'll need to get the book to find those!

The book also contains some photographs to enhance the prayers

Check out the details on http://www.faithandworship.com/shop.htm

Packages

I came across this quote yesterday via my Google Home page! I think it's quite a wise insight, and if nothing else seems to agree with the notion that man was not intended to be alone - he (and she!) was created for fellowship, for a sharing of the world and life, and for love - for giving and receiving.

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.
  - John Ruskin

A young (at heart) man's thoughts turn to Spring

A sleeping world emerges to new possibilities
Weakening winter's icy grip
And birdsong and bleating lamb
Announce to all the promise
That in due season
Creation bursts into life
And whilst leaves that fell in winter
Lie upon the ground
Soon to feed the earth
In nature's wondrous cycle
Of death and rebirth
Within the tree is a stirring of new growth

Do we get the god we deserve?

I was talking with a friend today and as always happens the conversation turned to religion and his apparent search to mould the God of the Bible into the sort of god that he could believe in. This is a constant battle that he has, and it leads to a lot of heartache and blind corners. Yes, there's no reason at all why you shouldn't create your own god - men and women have been doing that for millenia. Make him/her/it in your own image by all means, but don't try and confuse that god with the God of the Bible, because you are going to be disappointed.
Part of the problem that Christians have these days is that they spend too much time trying to make God fit into the culture of today rather than helping the culture relate to God as he is, timeless, unchangeable, creator and sustainer.

Religious freedom

 In an ideal world all people would be free to practice the religion of their choice and conviction, but of course this is not an ideal world. In the West there is a general tolerance to all and no faiths, but that is unfortunately not the case in strict  Islamic states. The following comes from the Barnabasfund website.

You can convert to Islam but you are not allowed to convert from Islam. All schools of Islamic law, shari‘a, agree on this rule and specify the death sentence for an adult male Muslim who chooses to leave his Islamic faith. Most also impose the death penalty on women apostates. The rule was established many centuries ago by Islamic scholars, but even today most Islamic religious leaders and many ordinary Muslim people agree with it.


The death penalty is rarely put into practice, but the existence of this “apostasy law” is so well known amongst Muslims that it generates strong hostility towards apostates, whether from family or community, from religious or secular leaders, from police or judiciary. So it is normal for converts from Islam to face persecution and violence. They may be arrested, either for apostasy or on a pretext. They may be attacked, beaten or even murdered by their own relatives. And those who commit the violence will probably not be punished for it.

As a Christian I obviously would like to feel that all are free to belong to the Christian family, whilst respecting the right of a Moslim to practice his or her own faith. I only wish it were so in all countries!

On the subject of wilderness

Lent begins in a wilderness, and ends in a desolate place. Over these past few weeks I can't say that I have been in a wilderness, but could argue that I've been taming a wilderness. A small patch of land, about 60 sq m which is hopefully going to grow our vegetables for the coming year. It was part of a field covered with grass, nettles, brambles, docks and no doubt many other exciting varieties of weeds (sorry, wild flowers) that I have yet to discover. It has never, to my knowledge ever grown a crop worth eating, unless you count dandelions.
It has been hard work, and will continue to be so because many of the weeds will re-grow from the small pieces of root which we have been unable to remove, and they will do this throughout the seasons unless we continue to bend down and remove them. We would like to garden organically, and that it going to make the going even tougher, but if we percevere then we shall win the battle, and from a task which at the start seemed soul destroying we shall harvest something beautiful (I am an eternal optimist!) and I shall be fitter!
Most wilderness times in our lives can seem like a constant and soul destroying battle, but working through them, rather than sinking into them, can enable us to grow stronger and rise victorious from a dark and lonely place.

Fog

 

 This last week we had a few days 1000ft up a hillside in South Yorkshire where relatives have a dairy farm. We were greeted by a fog so thick we could see no further than a few metres. I knew that beyond the stone wall in front of the farmhouse there was a glorious view over open countryside but it was impossible to see because of the fog. It was only on the morning that were were about to leave that the air cleared and allowed us to view and appreciate the snow covered panorama stretching around us.

Do you ever view your faith like that? You know God is all around, about and above you but for some reason you are engulfed by a fog of doubt or unbelief that threatens to overwhelm? There's nothing wrong with you - life is sometimes like that for many of us, and at times like that we have to hold on to the truth that we know. 

Just like I knew the glorious view was there beyond the fog, I had to be patient until I could once again see it and thank God for it. And when life seems engulfed in a thick fog then we do the same. We remind ourselves of the goodness of God, our knowledge of his love in our lives and his many blessings... and gradually the fog clears and we see him once again.

Worship and song

I find myself every now and then thinking about the story of Matt Redmond's church and how, at a particular moment in its development it seemed right to stop singing, and just wait on God until it seemed right to start again.
How frustrating that must have been at the start?!
It is so easy to fall into the 'vain repetitions' that Jesus talked about with prayer, when we sing both favourite and less familiar hymns and songs. Do we love the words or concentrate on the tune or harmony? Are we thinking about the theology and truth behind it as we sing or are we just going through the motions.  Admitedly we might struggle with the language if it is an old one (or the poor poetry of a new one!) but hands up if in the last few weeks you've got to the end of a hymn and not really connected with the thought behind it?
How many of us would be brave enough to suggest having a worship service without and singing, just concentrating on God's word and prayer?
Would it help? Concentrate the mind a little? Remind us that worship is more than a catchy song or two from our favourite worship leaders or hymn writers?

The Lord's Prayer

We all know the Lord's prayer, and I guess that for most of us it forms part of every service that we attend, either said or sung.

But there is a tendency to take it just as that 'A prayer' rather than as a way in which to pray, which is what I think Jesus had in mind when he was teaching his disciples. And when you look at it in this light it opens up the possibilities of our private and corporate prayer life.

Our prayers tend to concentrate on the things that concern us most 'Please God, do this...' 'Please God, look after.....' 'Please God, heal.....'

In fact, so often our prayers are just an explosion of words as we try hard not to let God get a word in edgeways! And Jesus has something to say about that 'And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans'

In fact, if we look at the Lord's prayer we find that the material, those things that affect us daily, are not be the prime focus of our thoughts.

Jesus suggests this form for our prayers

1) Start with God, reminding yourself who is the focus of our prayer. He is our heavenly Father, he knows our needs, he deserves our praise. What do we look for? We look for God's kingdom to spread throughout this world, the kingdom that we now see in part and look forward at some point to seeing in all its glory..

2) We know that God knows our needs, but he wants to know that what is on our hearts is in keeping with his will for our lives and the lives of those who are dear to us. We're not to ask for the ridiculous  - for riches, fame, glory! We come to him in humility, acknowledging that we are sinners in continual need of God's Grace.
God deals with our present needs (our daily bread) and our present condition (forgive us our debts)

3) And we look to the future, for our heavenly Father to keep us close to him both now and always. We are aware that without him we shall fail, but that in his loving arms we are secure (lead us not into temptation).


⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  ⁹"This, then, is how you should pray:
   " 'Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 ¹⁰your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 ¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
 ¹²Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 ¹³And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6)

Just a thought on forcing God's will

When people are looking for God's will for their lives, maybe in applying for a job, or a house move, how often do you hear the phrase 'I'm just knocking on a few doors to see which opens!'
Well, how about this quote on the subject - I gave an 'ouch!' when I read it.

If you can't pray a door open, don't pry it open.
(Lyell Rader)

What is it with Lent?

It will soon be Lent, and I've been busy writing prayers and material for the season. But it did make me think yesterday 'Just what does the average churchgoer actually think the season of Lent is for?'
No doubt most folk would place Lent before Easter and rightly surmise that the two were connected. They might think it's about temptations (particularly those of Jesus) as there is the tradition of giving something up we enjoy for Lent. But is that all it's about - temptation and giving up?
It was when I was listening to a sermon podcast this morning while taking the dog for a walk (!) that it reminded me that Lent should be about a whole lot more - much deeper and more serious than giving up chocolate for a few weeks.
The preacher, at Mars Hill Bible Church (check them out on iPlayer) had as his text Matthew 5 and those two headings of Murder and Adultery - not the most comfortable of subjects for a preacher to share with a congregation, but he could get away with it because he was visiting!
His point, and here I precis a 35 minute sermon, was that we are all murderers and adulterers. Maybe I precis his words a little too well, and need to expand a little!
What he said was that every time we are angry with someone, every time we pass judgement on someone's actions or words, every time we look at a pornographic image, every time we lust after anything (even pushing our own ambitions and dreams of success onto the lives of our children, and taking them into places that they are not happy or comfortable) then we are guilty as charged by Jesus' own words.
OK, there's a bit of Jewish hyperbole (deliberate exageration) in Jesus' words to emphasise his point, and the preacher was doing the same, but it certainly focussed my mind on what is at the heart of Lent, as far as I am concerned, and that is not so much the problems that Jesus had with temptation but simply the state of the human heart.
That's a problem that's been around since the dawn of civilisation and has been at the centre of God's revealing plan of salvation ever since. It is why Jesus walked this earth and journeyed to the cross and beyond - so that our evident guilt might be forgiven and we be brought back into fellowship with God. Put yourself in the place of the Prodigal Son who led a wild and sordid life in the city before his downfall and eventual return home to his Father. Are we any better?
Lent should be a time to focus our minds on the Easter story, but it should also be a time to examine our hearts.

Christian Unity

This is the week of prayer for Christian unity, and it got me thinking about what this unity is all about. I live in an area of Wales where there are many churches, a duplication because of the language - so even within the Anglican system there are both Welsh and English parish churches. So many churches/chapels and generally small congregations does cause a problem when it comes to working together, but in essense that's not what unity is about.
Christian unity is more about what we believe than where we worship. I might disagree with my Catholic friends about some of their beliefs - the perpetual virginity of Mary, the understanding of the elements in Holy Comunion etc.. On the other side of the divide I might disagree with some of my conservative evangelical friends about their strict literal interpretation of the Bible, particularly Genesis and Revelation.
But if my Christian friends agree with the basic core doctrinal beliefs of Christians, particularly where they centre on God's plan of Salvation, the nature of Jesus Christ and that we are saved by Grace not works, then I am more than happy to worship with them and count them as my Christian brothers and sisters.
We might have a discussion or two about the side issues, but these are not the important matters that should divide us. Paul was quite clear on this point - that there are lots of little things that we can disagree with, but we should rather be looking at the things that we can agree on. Yes, there are boundaries beyond which we cannot and should not agree or compromise, but our aim should be the unity of the Church - for then the world will see God's love working within us and reaching out to them.

Lent Bible Study

I've always loved the Isaac Watts' hymn 'When I survey the Wondrous Cross'.  It encompasses the whole Lent season as it asks us to look, or survey the wonder of the cross - but not only the wonder, he vividly paints the colour of Christ's agony and death on the cross.

This was one of the first English-language hymns to use the word ‘I’ and have at its core personal religious experience. The hymn is also an example of how Isaac Watts, who has been called the father of English hymnody, enlarged the boundaries of English hymn writing beyond the metrical psalms to include freer verse that readily lent itself to new musical settings.

Isaac Watts lived in turbulent times, and as we look at his life, and the words that he has written, it is easy to see the parallels with contemporary society. Most importantly for Christians, he wrote for the masses in words that they could understand. In the preface to Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707) he wrote: ‘I have aimed at ease of numbers and smoothness of sound, and endeavoured to make the sense plain and obvious; if the verse appears so gentle and flowing as to incur the Censure of Feebleness, I may honestly affirm that sometimes it has cost me labour to make it so.’

So it inspired me to write a Lent Bible study around each of this hymn's verses. It's written with the intention that only one copy is needed per group, and permission given to photocopy. There are questions from discussion and lots of background information for the leader.

Check out http://www.faithandworship.com/Amazing_Love.htm for more information

in search of certainty

The weather in the UK has been bad of late, much snow and ice which has caused a lot of difficulty for many folk. Children have not known from one day to the next whether their school will be open for lessons or even exams, and emergency services have been struggling to cope in some areas. Small businesses who reply on couriers to deliver their goods have backlogs of orders, and shops in small villages have no stock to sell, as locals have cleared the shelves and fresh deliveries are hard to get through the blocked roads.
Hopefully the end is in sight now, as temperatures are expected to rise before the weekend, but it is interesting to see how frustrating the uncertainty of weather conditions can become.
So it is good to know that above and beyond all this temporary distraction, we have a God who we can be certain of, who is not influenced by daily fluctuations in weather systems and poor logistical decisions made by local polititians over ordering salt and grit. Beyond the ups and downs of all our lives is a constant love and concern, a constant source of strength and comfort, that can overcome all that the world throws at us on a daily basis.

I arise to-day :
might of Heaven
brightness of Sun
whiteness of Snow
splendour of Fire
speed of Light
swiftness of Wind
depth of Sea
stability of Earth
firmness of Rock.
I arise to-day :
Might of God
Power of God
Wisdom of God
Eye of God
Ear of God
Word of God
Hand of God
Path of God
Shield of God
Host of God

(from The Book of Cerne, 9th C)

Christianity and Islam - is there a point of dialogue?

I've been reading an interesting book over Christmas, and that is Alister McGrath's recent book 'Heresy' and alongside a general discussion on the origins of heresy he has some interesting things to say about the subject of dialogue between Christianity and Islam.
There seems to be a general understanding among Christians (as it seems to me) that although Islam recognises that Abrahamic connections between the two faiths, that when it comes to the New Testament, and particularly the person of Jesus, then everything falls apart.
McGrath makes much more sense of the whole situation. He looks at the Islamic view of the Trinity, which is generally understood to be that Christians worship three persons - God, Jesus and Mary.
Where does this strange viewpoint come from?
Well, apparently it hails from a heretical viewpoint that was influential in Arabia at that time (the Collyridian sect which flourished in the Middle East.) One of its characteristics was to treat Mary as a godess.
The situation is similar in Islam's understanding of Jesus. Christian orthodoxy was slow to find its way into Arabia, and early heresies seem to have prevailed. Particularly here we must consider the Sethian Gnosticism (sorry!) which insisted that Jesus did not die on the cross, but was substituted at the last minute by Simon of Cyrene.
It seems inreasingly clear that Qur'anic interpretation of the Gospel is heavily influenced by encounters with the form of Christianity that was prevalent in Arabia at the time of Muhammad - and that these would be regarded in retrospect as heretical rather than orthodox belief.
So, with regard to conversations between these two faiths, it would seem that we have a point at which we can agree with our Moslem friends. As McGrath says 'Christians would concur in criticizing such beliefs as they are presented in the Qur'an. Muhammad may well have been correct in identifying unacceptable Christian view about Jesus and God - they were based upon views which would have been deemed as unorthodox and heretical by the Church a a whole.
That's not a critisism of Islam, but rather an appreciation that at that time, Christianity was really struggling to achieve a degree of conformity in what it believed about Jesus and the nature of the Godhead.

Last thoughts on Christmas

There's a lot of giving and receiving at Christmas, some of it well thought out, and some based upon the premise that 'it's the thought that counts', but it struck me markedly this year that God's gift to the world was the right one at the right time, and deserves a response, a gift in return. But what do you give to the one who not only has everything but created everything!?

And then I was reminded of that wonderful old carol 'In the bleak midwinter' which is strangely apt this year with the weather in the UK!

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

God's timing

In thinking about the arrival of the Magi to the Christmas story (albeit sometime after the shepherds paid their visit) I got to thinking what the importance of these folk from the East actually was, and came to the conclusion that it was all about the fact that with the arrival of Jesus on the scene, God was ready to bring the whole world back into fellowship with Himself - all of history had been working up to this point, and now God was ready. Up until now it had all been about the People of Israel, now the net was cast far and wide!

And unsurprisingly the world was also ready. I'm grateful for William Barclay for this information, but it so fits in with my musings -

When Jesus was born the jigsaw was almost complete

All the known world spoke Greek. It was the language of trade and literature – if you were going to take part in public life you had to know Greek, and that meant that the early missionaries had no problems with spreading the Good News if they could speak Greek.

If we go abroad then we have to make sure that the paperwork is right, and for many countries we need a passport or visa to cross the border and gain entry. But at the time that Jesus was born wherever you went you were probably travelling through the Roman Empire and that made life much simpler. A missionary would be able to travel freely from one end of the known world to the other.

And if you were travelling then what better time to travel than when the Romans had covered the land with serviceable roads and more or less rid the seas of pirates.

This was surprisingly also a time of relative peace within the known world, and you could travel within the vast Roman Empire in safety.

Add to all that the fact that at this particular time there was a real searching for salvation. There was a real feeling in the air that people had needs that wanted fulfilling. The time was right for people to listen and respond to the Good News that would be brought to them.

Jesus came to the world when he did because it was the right time, God’s time! The world was ready!

That's what friends are for!

One of the joys of the letters that we have in the New Testament is the personal information that they give us. 2 Timothy is a case in pont. Paul is in prison awaiting his execution and yet the one thing that is on his mind is his friends, either passing on greetings from them, or wanting to see them before he dies. We even find him remembering where he lost his coat and asking for it back!
It's the details such as this which make the New Testament come alive with REAL people (most of these characters can be cross-referenced to Acts and other NT books)
Read these last words from Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and get a real feel for the extended fellowship that existed then (and also the fact that there was also division and those acting in their own best interests - nothing changes!)

Paul’s Final Words

 ⁹ Timothy, please come as soon as you can. ¹⁰ Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. ¹² I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers. ¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. ¹⁵ Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said.
 ¹⁶ The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. ¹⁸ Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

Paul’s Final Greetings

 ¹⁹ Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and those living in the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus stayed at Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick at Miletus. ²¹ Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.
(NIV)