Reflections of a Mule

Family, Stripping or the Adulation of Crowds

2012-01-30T03:35:00.000-08:00

So a week or two ago (or maybe three or four ago) I decided that I was going to sit down and watch The Wrestler. I sat there not quite sure what I was making of it all until it ended and I suddenly found myself strangely intrigued by the film and particularly by the two main characters.

Mickey Rourke plays this old Wrestler who used to awesome and is now old and touring round these little wrestling places with a few people watching as he seeks to trade on past glories. He's pretty incapable of letting go. His identity is found in his past Wrestling glories and he continues to love Wrestling. Money is tight now but Wrestling continues to be his great passion. He decides to try to make it back to the big time and goes on a regime so that he can recreate his great grudge match 20 years after the biggest fight of his career.

During this time he makes friends with a stripper. She refuses to build relationships with men as it interferes with her work but she starts to get to know and like Mickey Rourke. The problem is that as far as she is concerned she is a stripper and relationships are not on the cards.

In the midst of all of this Mickey Rourke has a heart attack and is told he shouldn't wrestle any more. What happens now is Mickey looks for meaning elsewhere in life specifically in family. he tries to rebuild his relationship with his daughter and to build a relationship with the stripper. Now that he can't wrestle he needs to find meaning, identity and pleasure elsewhere.

After a slightly lengthy plot description here is what intrigued me about the film. The film is ultimately about people's search for meaning, identity and pleasure in life.

The Wrestler finds his identity in wrestling. In being the best, in being famous in hearing crowd cheer.
The Stripper finds her identity in being attractive to men. In being successful, in being beautiful.
The problem is that these identity's fail to last. They both grow old. The Wrestler becomes to old to be the best. The crowds wane and he ends up trying to live on past glories. The Stripper becomes old and ceases to be attractive to the clubs clientele. She struggles to know what the next step is if she can no longer attract and interest men through taking her clothes off.

So they both look elsewhere. They look to relationships. The problem is that these prove to be equally unreliable. Mickey Rourke proves to be incapable of being the kind of family man he longs to be and successfully hurts both his estranged daughter and the stripper as he seeks to build positive relationships. The stripper finds it hard to relate to men and pushes them away before finding that actually Mickey Rourke is more committed to the adulation of the many than any relationship with her.

The film ends with Mickey Rourke, unable to find meaning anywhere else, in ring wrestling his arch nemesis as crowds go wild and his heart finally explodes. Unable to find any identity outside of wrestling he is effectively willing to die to maintain that sense of meaning and elation which that moment brings.

You see this is what we do. We say finding identity in wrestling is stupid. Finding identity in family is good. Finding identity in stripping is bad and we grade the things we pursue and the things we allow to motivate and mould us. What 'The Wrestler' does brilliantly is it shows the unreliability and destructiveness of all these things.

We live for Wrestling and our body fails us and we are left with nothing
We live for Stripping and our attractiveness wanes and we are left for nothing
We live for family and we sin against them and the relationship is poisoned
We live for family and they sin against us and the relationship is poisoned.
We live for family and we die or they die and the relationship is over.
We live for the adulation of crowds and the crowds get bored.
We live for the adulation of crowds and we pursue destructive measures in an attempt to keep it.

We label these things respectable and unrespectable when actually they are all just insecure and often destructive ways we strive for some identity, some meaning, some purpose, some sense of importance, some sense of joy and like the Wrestler in our film even though they fail us we can't leave them behind. We continue to pursue them despite the fact they have not brought us all the things we so desired and hoped they would.

As I look at my life I see a man who finds it easy to pursue things which bring me a buzz, which energise and excite me, which make me feel important but which I know have failed me many times in the past and will fail me in the future. Jesus' promise is that identity, meaning, importance and joy are found in him welcoming us into his family. We now are his children and ageing and death and even sin cannot destroy or damage this. Society might think Family = Good, Stripping/Fighting = Bad but the truth is all too often these are both hopeless attempts at seeking identity in things which cannot cope with the rigours and reality of the lives we lead. If you would take a few minutes to look at those things you run round after I wonder if they would be up to the life you are going to lead?

The return of the king

2011-12-24T01:33:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 9v2-9 - For unto us a child is born and all that.

Christmas has not been the same since they stopped bringing out Lord of the Rings films. For three years every Christmas would involve numerous trips to the cinema to sit through hours and hours of orcs, hobbits and wizards fight over the fate of middle earth. If that doesn’t make you feel festive then nothing will. The final (and longest) instalment is called the Return of the King and revolves around Aragorn (Son of Arathorn) returning to Gondor to take his rightful place as king. As he returns there is the obvious conflict between the current Warden of Gondor (Denethor) and Aragorn as Denethor sees his power and influence passing away. You see the great news of a king returning is also the news which brings confrontation and hostility.

So we come to Isaiah 9 and we read these words and songs start ringing in our ears as we hear this great news of a child who is born. A child who will bring joy, a child who will bring peace, a child who will bring justice and stability and righteousness. We hear of this child who will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and our minds flash forwards to the Christmas story to visions of a baby sat in a manger surrounded by an ever increasing sea of talking animals and we feel suitably festive and a little bit religious and ready to make the most of the coming yuletide.

I can’t help but feel that when we read Isaiah 9 our minds are maybe racing to the wrong place. You see it is true that Jesus’ birth represents the birth talked about here but it’s not easy to see this king in the weakness and ignominy of the stable. Some wise men saw it and brought him gifts for a king. Herod saw it and tried to kill this rival but generally the birth itself looks unthreatening and is easily ignored. If our minds simply go from Isaiah 9 to Jesus’ birth and then stop there I’m not sure the connection is obvious. No to see just how wonderful Isaiah 9 is we have to keep reading.

You see Isaiah 9 is fulfilled in Jesus’ life. When Jesus starts his ministry he starts it by declaring the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. Now gospel simply means good news. So do you see what Jesus is saying right at the start of it all? He’s saying the good news of Isaiah 9 is here. This kingdom which was promised all those years ago is now at hand and Jesus’ great call is to enter that kingdom. Isaiah 9 reminds us that Jesus did not come simply as an inspiring example of how to be a generally decent kind of bloke but he came as the king of a kingdom and he called people to it.

So we return to where we started. Aragorn returned and he claimed his rightful position as king. He ultimately brought victory to Gondor and through that came peace and prosperity. The king was here and he offered light in darkness, peace in conflict, justice and righteousness in what had become corrupt and self seeking. But when a new king is on the scene then kingdoms will inevitably collide and power will not be given up easily.

It’s maybe taken me a long time to get there but here’s the heart of Isaiah 9 and it’s what should go through our minds every time we hear these words read or sung this Christmas. Christmas is the time when we remember the moment when the Kingdom of God burst into our world. It is a great kingdom, a kingdom of peace, joy, justice, righteousness, prosperity and stability. It’s a kingdom run by a king who can be legitimately called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ This kingdom is here but it stands against all other kings and all other kingdoms. Jesus repeatedly says you can’t serve him and other things so either Jesus is the king or something else is. Either you’re a part of his kingdom, or you’re not. So I don’t know what the king of your life is – Maybe it’s you? Maybe it’s family? Maybe it’s success? Maybe it’s popularity? Maybe it’s money? I don’t know, but Isaiah 9 reminds us of what Jesus repeatedly said. There is a new kingdom, a better kingdom but if you’re going to be a part of that you do not need to go to church a few times, you don’t need to give a bit of money away, you don’t need to get a bit of religion in your life but you need leave the kingdom you’re in now, you need to reject the king you follow now and you need to find a new kingdom, with a new king and new values and become part of a new people, the people of God. If at Christmas you’re not confronted with a radically different kingdom which forces you to choose your allegiance then you have failed to understand Isaiah 9 and failed to understand Christmas and failed to understand Jesus at all. The good news of the return of the king and a new kingdom must also be the good news which strikes terror into every other king in our lives or it is not good news at all, in fact it’s not even news.

Sundays and a heart for Jesus

2011-11-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

OK. so you're a Christian and you get up on a Sunday morning and decide to go to church. Or you get up and decide to lead a Church service. What should you expect? What should you be doing? What is the function of getting together? What is the point of the one hour, two hours or whatever we give for a Sunday morning.

Well the problem with humanity is undoubtedly the heart. Our hearts do not love God or other people as they should. The Bible calls this sin and says that it is our nature. So on a Sunday morning surely it stands to reason that our goal is to warm our hearts for Jesus? Surely a Sunday morning is there to help us love Jesus more? So on a Sunday morning we help people to recognise the true state of their hearts and then we point them to Jesus and enable his work and his character to win their hearts.

I need to say that I think that this is an invaluable way of thinking about things and much better than numerous other things which people focus on during a Sunday morning. However, there are a couple of dangers with this which I think are worth thinking about.

If it's all about our heart and our love for Jesus then we are undoubtedly going to have failed in the week leading up to church. Our heart is not going to be what it should have been and because of this our behaviour, thoughts, words, relationships are not going to have been what they should have been either. So if what happens at church is that we are brought face to face with the state of our hearts and then reminded of Jesus work there is as very real danger that it becomes expected that a Sunday morning service provides 2 functions.

1. Absolution - At church we expect to be brought face to face with the state of our heart. Then we expect to be reminded of the fact that despite the state of our heart Jesus died for us and so forgiveness is available for us. The danger is that through this Sunday focus we end up living a life without ongoing repentance and sanctification, instead relying on a meeting to provide the absolution we need.

2. Reheating - Then at church we expect to find our hearts reheated with love for Jesus. So the way we expect our Christian life to work is that we go to church and have our hearts warmed for Jesus and then during the week they cool down until we return to church next Sunday morning to have out hearts reheated.

All of a sudden our Sunday meetings have become precisely the ritual which we were hoping to avoid by focusing on the heart instead of externals. Sunday mornings become events we go to for absolution and refocussing and fail to impact the rest of our lives. Sundays become the very religious exercise which we so wanted to avoid.

So what should Sunday morning's be about? Maybe I'll return to that in my next post.

Love that will not betray you

2011-10-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of months I have done a couple of things which have caused me to think about things again. The first thing I did was change jobs and the second was to read 'Counterfeit Gods'. What's interesting in any job is to see what motivates people. Every workplace and every manager is trying to work out what it is which will motivate their employees. What is it which will make people want to come and work for them, what will make them remain loyal and what will help them to work to their maximum? The answer which most people come up with here is obvious for all to see - 'Money'. Sure there are other things which can motivate people and there are other things which workplaces try like status (change the job title), time off (increase holiday allowance), work environment (team building, nice environment etc). However, when it comes down to it if you want better staff the answer is normally to offer more money, if you want to keep certain employees then the answer is normally to give them a pay rise and if you want to encourage people to work better you offer them performance based pay. Why is it that money is the ultimate motivator? Well surely it is because we are best motivated by the things we love most. Everything seems to point to the fact that the thing we love best is money.

This may well be true but just because we love something doesn't make it good. You see the love of money is dangerous. People often end up pursuing money at the expense of their families, their health, their relationships and a whole host of things. Often our love of money actually fails to make us happy but rather so dominates us that we ruin our lives pursuing it. Money also traps us. We have a certain amount of money or are promised a certain amount of money and so we buy a certain house and pursue a certain lifestyle and then we have to keep earning like that or else our whole life would fall apart. So we love money but maybe we shouldn't.

The song 'Sigh no more' has the following line 'Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free'. Here they recognise what I have been saying here and what Tim Keller says in Counterfeit Gods. Love tends to betray us. We believe that it will bring us all we are looking for but then we get it and find that it betrays us. Love tends to dismay and enslave us. Rather than bringing us the freedom and joy we thought it would we end up trapped by it as we continue to pursue things which cannot ever deliver.

So what do we do? Well love is not a bad thing. the problem is that everything we love in this world is corrupted and damaged by sin and therefore disappoints. The problem is that we are corrupted and damaged by sin and therefore we love things more than we should. The gospel is the message of a perfect God's love for us and of the way we can love God and find that it is in fact that love and that love alone that will not betray us, dismay or enslave us but will instead set us free.

Filling Diaries

2011-09-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Having moved to a new area then it is just incredible to look through your week and realise that you have free evenings. Free evenings are something which as time goes on seem to become few and far between but when you've just moved you start with a blank canvas and you have a short window to start thinking about how you fill it.

This proves to be surprisingly difficult to do and perhaps the chief battle is that to get the balance between the right between careful planning of your time and making time for the unexpected. The danger is that without careful planning of your time you end up not doing some of those things which you view as important. Meeting with people, playing sport, enjoying corporate times of studying the Bible and worshipping God together requires planning. Basically everything which involves other people is going to involve some organisation and the use of some calendars.

However, the danger with this is you so carefully plan everything and you manage your time so closely that you don't actually leave time for people. You actually find it impossible to make time for a friend who's going through a difficult time. You can't make the time to get the rest, or the time alone, or the relaxed time with close friends you need or the extra investment your children or family or friends find themselves in need of. You see the problem with life is how do you plan for the unexpected?

I have no real answers for this. I guess I will constantly be battling this and be getting it wrong however, I write this to force myself and maybe to encourage a few other people to at least think about these issues.

God has given you a certain number of hours. No more and no less and often these are wasted and not enjoyed to their full simply because we haven't thought about how we are going to use the life God has given us. Perhaps thinking about these issues is a helpful starting point when it comes to thinking about these things. However, all too often we fail to make it even to the starting point.

Tracing Rainbows

2011-08-08T04:10:00.000-07:00

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

These words are found in a hymn written by George Mattheson (the story behind why he wrote this is quite incredible but not the point of this blog).

The phrase 'I trace the rainbow through the rain' was one which had never really registered with me before but which I haven' been able to stop thinking about this week. He is referring back to the story of Noah's Ark when the world experienced God's judgment for it's wickedness. In the account of Noah's ark God saw the wickedness of the world and sent rain in judgment. However, following the flood God gave Noah the sign of the rainbow. A promise that he would never again judge the world like this and that the world would continue to enjoy God's blessing.

So this image of tracing the rainbow through the rain is the image of seeking out God's grace, seeking out God's promises even in the midst of difficulties and disasters. These are the words of a man saying that when he is going through hardship rather than concentrating on the 'rain' which is all around him he is going to work hard to find the comfort offered by the rainbow (God's promises).

From our point of view this would look like in the midst of the incredible grief caused by the death of a loved one we would work hard to fix our eyes on God's promise that he will never leave us or forsake us.

This would look like in the midst of illness and suffering we would not become consumed by our pain but rather work hard to instead focus on God's promise of resurrection bodies without pain.

This would look like in the midst of stress at work we don't become obsessed with thinking about or worrying about things at work but instead set our minds on God's promise of perfect rest and rewarding work.

And the symbol of all these promises of God is found at the cross. So if we are to trace the rainbow through the rain we actually are to trace the cross. We are to work hard to see the cross and remember that it acts as God's guarantee of those promises which we need during those difficult times. Tracing rainbows in the midst of rain is a hard thing to do but that is the way which Christians must deal with the difficulties and pain they inevitably go through.

Hungry but tired

2011-08-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Augustine writes in his confessions of a time when he hungered after God. He longed to experience more of God, to enjoy more of God. Those around him presented him with ways of experiencing Gods. They presented him with a language of spirituality. They spoke to him of truths. They presented him with the elements of this world and they encouraged him to feed on these and find God. He concludes his time pursuing God in this way using these words,

'Because I thought them to be Thee, I fed thereon; not eagerly, for Thou did not taste to me as Thou art; for Thou wast not these emptiness, nor was I nourished by them but exhausted rather.'

So he fed on these things but because these things did not taste like God should he didn't do it eagerly. Because God was not to be found in these things he didn't find himself feeling well fed and refreshed but instead tired out.

I wonder how much of this has gone in our churches. It seems to me that many people were told that they would find God in church attendance. So they merely committed themselves to attending church. They turned up but they didn't experience God because they were just attending a meeting and so they found it to be tiring rather than nourishing.

It seems to me that many people have been led to believe that they will experience God in a variety of religious experiences. They were led to believe that experiencing and enjoying God was about wearing certain clothes, acting a certain way, obeying a set of rules, reading a certain version of the bible, reading the Bible a certain amount of the time and a whole host of things.

But here is the problem. They experienced exactly what Augustine did. They didn't find any joy or satisfaction in these things but because they hungered for God and had been told this was where God was to be found they pursued them. But over time they found their hunger unquenched and them tired with all their work and so they gave up. The thing is they didn't just give up on those things but they gave up on pursuing God. They had been told that God was to be found in those things. They had done those things and those things had disappointed so they give up on pursuing God as a bad idea.

I think our churches are full of people who were told that God was to be found in certain activities. They did those activities but because those things were not really how you experience God then they ended up tired and so gave up. They ended up thinking of pursuing God as a tiring demanding and unrewarding thing. So then when someone like me stands up and says that they should be pursuing God they think I tried that and it didn't work and so ignore me. When I stand up and say that pursuing God is not a heavy burden. When I say that he promises to be bread and water which truly satisfies they think well I pursued him and didn't find myself nourished and fulfilled but rather still hungry just more tired and more stressed.

What we are reaping now is the harvest of people who like Augustine hungered for God but were pointed to the wrong places for feeding. This harvest is people who think the best way to follow God is just to drift along with him rather than to passionately pursue him with their lives.

Let me encourage all people to do what Augustine does and realise the problem was not that God does not satisfy. It was not that God wants to weigh you down with heavy burdens it was that you were trying to experience him in deeply flawed ways. Experiencing God is truly satisfying but it is not found in religious observance it is found in relationship building.

It is found in spending time with God. In understanding his word and letting it speak to you and change you. In talking to God in prayer not through religious formula but with honesty and transparency. It is through experiencing the joy of being part of his kingdom through enjoying real, genuine, loving relationships with other Christians.

To all those who've given up pursuing God as a bad job let me suggest you give it another go with a focus on building relationships not following codes.

Pharisees need the gospel too

2011-06-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Churches are full of Pharisees. Churches are full of people who subscribe to a certain morality, to a certain set of values and to a certain view of religion without any real knowledge of, love of or relationship with Jesus. Churches are so full of Pharisees that when people hear that I go to church people assume that I am a Pharisee. They assume that I believe that if I do certain things God will like me as long as I also avoid doing things God does not like. Pharisees preach an anti-gospel. They are about morality, appearances and judgmentalism when the gospel is about forgiveness, the heart and graciousness. Pharisees discredit Christianity, damage my witness and poison the church.

But the problem is that I dislike Pharisees so much that sometimes I forget that they need the gospel too. You see Pharisees are just like everyone else who hasn't been reconciled to God through Jesus' death - they are just people looking for something with which to make sense of, and bring some meaning to, life. As such they need to hear the good news of a relationship with God which makes sense of why we're here and brings meaning into life. They need to hear the good news of forgiveness which frees us from moral superiority and constantly trying to appear good. They need to be rescued and changed by Jesus' death. They need to repent of their Pharisaism.

As a minister I need to work hard to make sure I don't give up on the Pharisees. I don't write them off but I keep trying to preach the gospel to them and demonstrate their need of it. I have just listened to a fantastic evangelistic service which effectively preached the gospel in a powerful way to Pharisees and I was forced to ask myself am I lovingly but forcefully preaching the gospel to Pharisees or have I given up on them. Pharisees are hard - the Bible clearly shows that and warns us about it. But God can change anyone's heart so I need to think about how I do evangelism for Pharisees.

Obedience

2011-06-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

The idea of obedience is horribly unfashionable. So unpopular is the idea of obedience that I even thought about renaming this post in an attempt to get more clicks. However, when it comes to Christianity obedience is incredibly important. Jesus calls on his followers to obey him and Peter in his first letter refers to his recipients as 'Obedient Children'.

However, we struggle with obedience. Many of us know that it is important, we would even say that we want to obey and yet time and time again we fail. We long to pray like God says we should but we lack discipline, get distracted and find it repeatedly pushed out. We long to love like God calls us to but when such a person (insert name here) comes along we find ourselves again and again giving into impatience or malice or selfishness. How can we obey better? Is it even possible?

Well let me suggest that much of this will depend on our attitude towards obedience. Let me articulate two attitudes towards obedience and explain the difference the attitudes will have.

The first attitude goes something like this...

'God created me. he gave me life and breath and many good gifts. He then came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and went to the cross to suffer humiliation, death and hell on my behalf. He now offers me free forgiveness (not earned by obedience) and an eternity with him. It therefore goes without saying that I should obey him.'

The second attitude goes something like this...

'God is absolutely and completely holy. He is perfect in his morality, in his judgment, in his decision making and in his actions. He loves perfectly. He is completely satisfied. He is completely joyful. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't fail to see the consequences of his actions and his is completely in control as demonstrated perfectly in Jesus' work on earth and I get to obey him. I get to be like him.'

You see the first one seems fine. It seems like it is grounded in the gospel but the problem with it is that it still sees obedience as the thing we should do as a result of the gospel. Now whilst it is true that we should obey all too often that fails to motivate us. The second way, however, offers something completely different. Still routed in the gospel rather that concentrating on what God has done it concentrates on what God is like. Rather than being motivated by God's actions it is motivated by God's character. When Peter talks about us as 'Obedient Children' he is conjuring up the picture of a child who longs to be like their dad. He goes onto say 'As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct' Do you see the difference? Rather than obeying as a response to what God has done we obey because we see God in all his wonder and long to be like him. Obedience is the act of us becoming like God.

Too often we see obedience as the unfortunate side effect of eternal life. In order to be saved from hell and get heaven we need to put up with the earthly side effect of obedience. This all too often fails to motivate us to obey. But when we realise that obedience is not something a Christian has to do but rather something the Christian's birth enables him to do well then we're excited to be like God and so rather than thinking we have to obey we consider it a great joy and a privilege that we get to obey. Maybe now we will find greater motivation to obey as we seek to become more like God during our time on earth.

Married Bachelors

2011-05-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Trying to find things that a God who can do everything can't do has proved to be somewhat difficult for sceptical humanity. In an attempt to find things people have said things like well God couldn't make a square circle because a circle is circular by definition. Now this is a facile argument because it is asking whether it is possible for God to do two mutually exclusive actions. The simple answer to this is that God is unable to do two mutually exclusive actions because nonsense remains nonsense even when addressing God! To talk about square circles or married bachelors is to talk nonsense, to speak gobbledegook. Now in Christian circles I hear a lot of statements which fall into the same category. I am just going to state a few here...

1. A Christian who isn't bothered about obeying Jesus. This is not a position which can be held. This is not a statement which can be engaged with. It is nonsense just like talking about triangular circles.

2. Someone who loves Jesus but has no time for the church he purchased with his blood. To say you love Jesus but not love his church makes as much sense as to say you are a married bachelor.

3. A non-committed Christian. No such category exists. It's nonsense. To talk about a non-committed or not a proper Christian is to group some words together which make no sense. It'd be like saying I'm a non-footballing footballer or I'm a non-acting actor.

These positions are not even things which we are open for discussion. They're not legitimate positions which can be reasoned because they are nothing more than gobbledegook and you cannot reason with gobbledegook. You cannot be a married bachelor. You cannot reach a compromise position with someone who thinks they are a married bachelor (well maybe you are on weekends?). You cannot have a discussion about the position of married bachelors in the universe. The only solution is for them to stop talking rubbish and own up to what they really are 'married' or 'bachelor'.

Christians are people who long to obey Jesus, who love his church and who are committed to him above all else. You cannot claim to be something which is mutually exclusive - so are you a Christian who wants to obey Jesus or are you not a Christian who has no desire to obey Jesus? We need to stop creating nonsense phrases and start making sense and then maybe we can start talking and actually get somewhere.

Was it love or fear of the cold

2011-05-07T02:11:00.000-07:00

One of the Mumford and Sons songs has the following line in it,

'Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night'

which got me thinking about our motivations in life. So many friendships are based on fear of the cold rather than love. So we don't like the cold. We don't like feeling lonely. We don't like feeling alone. We are afraid of being alone and so this drives us into relationships. So many relationship groups are built around the questions of who's around and who's willing to be around so that I won't be alone. I remember this from the start of university. You start university and you're so scared of being alone that you just find anyone who is happy to spend time with you and you hang around with them - It's better than being alone. But these friendships don't last. You see your relationships need to be built on more than fear of the cold if they are to last they need to be built on love. So you get bored, you get frustrated, you start feeling lonely again and in the end you find people you like and you start building relationships out of love rather than fear of the cold.

The same thing happens with many people and Christianity. They start to feel alone. Either without a community around them or alone in the universe. They are scared of living without a community, without a framework to live their lives by, without anything above and beyond them and in Christianity they find these things. they find a community which will accept them. They find a framework by which they can live their lives and they find a God who is bigger and better than them. So they come into Christian community and become Christians. Now there is nothing wrong with this as a starting point however, if your Christianity is always motivated by fear of the cold then like human relationships it will not last. You will fall out with the people, you will find the framework frustrating and you will find God distant unless your motivation moves from fear of the cold to love. You see it's fine to be drawn to Christianity by fear of the cold but if it is to last your motivation must change to one of love. I see so many people who don't like their life, are afraid of their future and so come to Christianity for a while before at some later point drifting away again. Why is this?

Well I think it is because it was fear of the cold not love which led them to Christianity. Christianity which lasts is Christianity motivated by love for who God is and what he has done.

Another hour of your life

2011-04-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

So this week I have given an hour of my life to the following...

1 - Watching Man City v Blackburn (not sure why I did this)

2 - Watching Real Madrid v Barcelona (wish I hadn't done this)

3 - Playing Fifa 11

4 - Playing Tennis

5 - Playing Monopoly (First time for about 15 years and I remembered why it had been so long)

Much like last week my week has involved a mix of enjoyable and not enjoyable. A mix of things which were a good idea and things which weren't.

Now for those of you who decided that an hour on Easter Sunday was too much to give up to see if it had anything to say to you let me suggest you join us this Sunday (10:45am at Browning Avenue Baptist Church) for the start of a new series we're doing looking at the meaning of life from the book of Ecclesiastes. If you don't normally go to church why not give it a whirl and see if the Bible has anything interesting/useful to say about the meaning of life.

An hour of your life

2011-04-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

As you look across your life I guess all of us can think of any number of things which we will give up an hour for. Here are some things I have recently given up an hour of my life for

1 - An episode of the Sopranos

2 - Watching Middlesbrough Football Club (I guess this is longer than an hour)

3 - Playing Angry Birds on my phone (I'm going for 3 stars on each level)

4 - Playing football

5 - Speaking to friends on the phone

6 - Visiting a farm

7 - Watching Beauty and the Geek (only once I feel I must add)

I guess if you were to list some of the things you give up an hour to do you would get a list of some worthwhile stuff and some stuff which is quite simply a bit of a waste of time.

Here is my question - When most of us are willing to spend an hour doing practically anything, why is it so hard to get people to give an hour of their lives to come to church and see if Jesus' death and resurrection actually has anything to say to them?

That's what we're going to be looking at tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 10:45 and let me encourage as many of you as possible to give up just an hour of your life to hear me talk about what this Easter weekend is all about.

So join us for 'A matter of death and life' at Browning Avenue Baptist Church - Sunday 24th April - 10:45am.

Hope to see you there!

Syncretism

2011-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

I apologise if this makes no sense but I am aware of this problem in myself and feel like I should try to articulate it!

So idolatry is a bad thing. Well at least according to the Bible it is. Idolatry is in essence allowing something else to take things which only God deserves.

So when we love something instead of God then that thing has become an idol.

Idols are rarely bad things but normally good things which we allow to become too important to us.

So a high view of family is a good thing but when I love my family so much that I allow it to dictate my actions, thoughts, attitudes more than God then it has become an idol.

Football is a good thing but when I love that more than I love God then it has become an idol.

However, this is quite a narrow view of idolatry. In the Old Testament when God's people turned away to idols they rarely gave up entirely with God. No rather they worshipped God along with other gods. This was called syncretism. Trying to worship two things at the same time. God may even still have been number 1 but they wanted another god as well.

I do wonder whether today syncretism is more of a danger than straight out idolatry. It's not that I want rid of God I just want success as well. It's not that I want God out of the picture entirely I just want to be rich as well. The problem is that syncretism is more difficult to spot. You see idolatry is in some ways easy - Do I love this more than God? If I do it's an idol if not then it's not.

But syncretism is harder. Syncretism is harder to spot because in order for something to be an idol now it doesn't have to be more important than God it simply has to take something belonging to God.

Let me explain...

Say if you were a person who likes to do things well and be successful. There are 3 things which could be going on here.

1. You could just like being successful. You like doing things well but it's not a problem you still love and follow God and your desire to be a success has no impact on this. Your success is nothing more than a means by which you serve, enjoy and glorify God.

2. You could be an idolater. By this I mean you could actually love being successful more than you love God. You therefore choose success over God and thus show that success is your real God.

3. You could be a syncretist. You love God and want to follow him but you have allowed success to take some of the things God deserves. So some of your significance is found in being successful and so you have allowed success to be part of what identifies you as well as God. But your identity should come from God so by doing this you have allowed success to provide something only God should provide. So you are a syncretist. You want God and like being identified by him but you have allowed something else to provide your worth which should only belong to God. You have allowed something else to take your energy and steal your affection apart from God.

Now this becomes more complicated to identify because enjoying and loving God through success is a good thing. It is when these things become disconnected from God that we have a problem. However, for people within church it is more likely that you are a syncretist than simply an idolater. It is much more likely that you have allowed other things to give or take things which only God should than that you have allowed yourself to love something more than God. However, syncretism is still idolatry so we need to be serious about identifying it and rooting it out because God is the one worth being loved with heart, soul, mind and strength.

The god I don't believe in

2011-03-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

I believe in god but...

I don't believe in a god in the traditional sort of way. That's just a social construct.

I don't believe in a god who makes moral requirements on my life. It's my life why should he care!

I don't believe in a god who allows such terrible things to happen. If he's out there this stuff must be beyond him.

I don't believe in a god who cares about what I think of him. Surely he should be above that?

I don't believe in a god who sends people to hell. Hell? I mean come on!

I don't believe in a god who lets rapists get away with it. He should step in there!

I don't believe in a god who lets children be abused. He shouldn't stand for that.

I don't believe in a god who'll just forgive anyone for anything, no matter what they've done. Anyone can be sorry but it doesn't make it o.k.

It's easy to think of the things you don't want to believe and then turn them into a list of things you don't believe but at the end of it the question you have to answer is what do you have left to believe in?

If all we simply do is state all the things we don't believe in we run the risk of never actually battling with the issues in order to work out what we do believe. Beware you don't assume that stating what you don't believe and why is the same as being able to justify what you do believe!

P.S. The views stated at the start of this blog certainly do not all represent what I don't believe (it was a rhetorical tool)

21st Century Island Syndrome

2011-03-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

The film 'About a boy' (which I like more than I should) begins with Hugh Grant telling us what rubbish the statement 'no man is an island' is because in our age now is the perfect time to be an island. The film goes on to suggest that he is wrong however, I reckon a lot of us still think he is right. What with computers, books, tv, sports etc sometimes being an Island can feel rather nice. It feels especially nice when you have been let down and hurt by people. As life goes on and we grow in our realisation that people are unreliable and often hard work it's often tempting to pull up the draw bridge and withdraw to our private island.

I see a whole host of people within the church who seem to have withdrawn from people. Perhaps they cross paths with other people occasionally but in terms of real, vibrant, honest, committed friendships they have given up on them. They view them as unimportant, not worth the effort and something they don't have time for.

To be like this is to rebel against God's purposes...

God's purpose in creation was to make something which was capable of real friendship with him. That something was us. We are designed for real friendship.

However, when man was alone (in a perfect world) there was still something not right in the world because God had created something in his own image which meant he had created something which needed real, strong and loving relationships.

Humanity messed that up so God came down to earth to redeem his people. Why did he do this? Well the whole purpose of this redemption was to rebuild these friendships. To make it possible for people to have a real and vibrant friendship with God and strong, loving friendships with each other.

To reject honest, genuine and loving friendships is actually not simply a question of choice but a rebellion against God's purposes in creating you and redeeming you. It is worrying to see how many Christians seem to have opted out of real friendships, for one reason or another, considering that it was in order for you to make real friendships that you were both created and redeemed.

Love Wins

2011-03-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

Well following Rob Bell's video and the christian media storm which erupted I am aware that many people have been waiting with baited breath to see what the Parker line is. I mean they know where Piper stands but they just want to see where the other big guns stand before nailing their colours to the mast. So somewhat tardily I have decided (prompted by a tweet I read) to state my official line on the matter!

The triune God before time itself decided to create a universe as an overflow of the love they had always enjoyed. In a battle between inaction and love - Love wins

The people God created turn their back on him and start making something of a mess of the universe he created. However, God continues to be long suffering, patient and kind with them as he reveals himself to them and works to restrain evil and bring people back into relationship with him. In a battle between indifference and love - Love wins

Knowing full well mankind's inability to relate to him, each other or creation properly, God the Son becomes a man and suffers incredible hardship and difficulty as eventually he is crucified by the very people he came to rescue. Through this crucifixion forgiveness is made possible and through this a renewed relationship of love between people and God. In a battle between comfort and love - Love wins

One day God promises a new creation in which everybody relates to each other, and to God, in perfect love. God will not allow hate, suffering, and all kinds of evil to go unchecked and one day he will do away with them forever. Ultimately in the battle between sin and love - Love wins

So about this much at least Rob Bell is right - Love definitely wins!

Who decides who loves Jesus?

2011-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

It has become popular to talk about Christians as people who love Jesus. This is a great definition of a Christian and it is not new. This is surely the definition Jesus gives when he talks about the importance of loving him more than anything else (Matthew 10v37-38). Christianity is not primarily about the things you do, the things you say or anything like that it is about a relationship of love with Jesus Christ.

However, today someone said to me how come such a person gets to decide who loves Jesus and who doesn't? You see if it's about loving Jesus then surely I am the only person who can say whether I do or not and everyone else should just get their nose out of other people's business. You see the idea behind this statement is a really popular one which states that as long as I love Jesus (by my own definition of love) then I'm o.k. and no-one can tell me that I am or am not a Christian. So what we end up with is a group of people who can say anything, do anything but still claim to be Christians because they love Jesus. What we end up with is a community whose only response to any teaching, lifestyle choices or anything is to say 'well they seem to love Jesus' or 'well as along as they love Jesus' or 'they seem to love Jesus more than these other people'

So Christianity has become about nothing. It's become about whether people say they love Jesus and whether they talk about Jesus in a loving way and nothing else.

So back to the original question. Who get's to decide who loves Jesus and who doesn't? Well let me suggest that Jesus does. What does he have to say about the matter? Let me quote but a few things he says on the matter?

1 - John 21v15-19 - When Jesus meets with Peter after the resurrection Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, Peter says yes and so Jesus tells him to 'feed my lambs/sheep'. Jesus here says that people who love him will feed his people.

This means that you can't lead people astray and love Jesus. You can't teach people things which leads them away from Jesus and still love him. So people who talk about loving Jesus but are teaching error can and should be confronted because what they are doing is not loving Jesus.

2 - John 14v23 - Jesus here clearly says that those who love him obey his teaching. This means that it is a contradiction to pursue a life of disobedience to Jesus whilst still claiming to love him. This means that disobedient acts can and should be confronted because what they are doing is not loving Jesus.

3 - 1 John 4v20-21 - Here John says that Jesus taught that it's impossible to claim that you love God if you don't love your brother. This means that it is impossible to say that 'I love Jesus I just don't love Christians/the church'. How can you love Jesus but not love the church he purchased with his blood? So this means that a disregard, indifference or hostility towards God's people is incompatible with love for Jesus. Therefore yet again this attitude towards Christians can and should be confronted because this is not loving Jesus.

That's just a few examples I'm sure there are more but my point is that although Christianity is about loving Jesus this should not make it the subjective wishy washy thing which it seems to have become with so many people and so many Christian communities!

Say what you mean

2011-02-25T05:21:00.000-08:00

Say what you mean and mean what you say was one of those sayings which people always said and which makes absolute sense. If you're going to say something make sure you say what you are meaning to say and if you are going to say something make sure you mean it before saying it. How much aggravation would be avoided if people simply did this? But anyway that is an aside.

It makes sense for people to do this. It is common sense. It is good advice for you to follow apart from in church! Well at least according to the head of churches together I heard on the radio on Tuesday. Chris Evans was questioning him about what he'd been doing at St Andrews University and this guy responded by saying he'd been doing some call and response stuff. So he would say something like 'God is good' and they would respond 'All the time' (I think this is right but I apologise for my liturgical ignorance if it isn't). Chris Evans then asked him whether it mattered if people said it without meaning it to which the guy responded 'Not really' before qualifying it with 'it's better if they do'.

Now I was flabbergasted by this. I mean if it doesn't matter whether people mean it or not then what exactly are we doing. What good can it possibly do to have a whole host of people saying something they don't believe? No wonder people consider church to be a waste of time. It is a waste of time if what you do there is say a few things you don't believe and then go home. When someone from within the church says that what matters is doing some religious stuff rather than what you believe then it only reinforces peoples view about church being all about tradition and ceremony rather than about anything real. I mean after all if what they say isn't real then why should we believe that anything about Christianity is true.

But Christianity is about a real relationship with a real God. There is actually nothing more real than this and so we must ensure that we say what we mean and mean what we say. Simply stating words is of no value but when those words flow out of a real relationship then those words become powerful, encouraging and meaningful. So whether it's liturgy, prayer or singing make sure you say what you mean and mean what you say and if you don't mean it then please don't say it. Until people see that we mean the things we sing, speak, pray, read and listen to then they will fail to see Christianity as anything real, significant or relevant in any way to them!

What does God's goodness mean?

2011-02-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

O.K. do I don't normally put clips of other people on this because I figure if you want to hear their stuff you can just read their blog etc.

However, I follow a lot of Chandler and yet had missed this until this week so why not give it a watch!

Counting friends

2011-01-26T05:57:00.000-08:00

One of the songs in the Muppet Christmas Carol contains the following words (Yes I know I'm in the wrong season but I've been absent from the blogging world for a while so give me a break!)

'Life is like a jouney, who knows when it ends?
Yes and if you need to know the measure of a man
You simply count his friends'

Now this leaves me with a problem as I'm not sure I'm leading any friendship league table. According to facebook I have 166 friends (which seems like an obscenely high number to me) however when compared to others of my friends it appears I don't measure up too well. One of my friends Scott has 620, John has 580 and even a man who describes himself as unsociable has 312! If someone was trying to ascertain the measure of men by friends I'm not sure I'd be measured too well.

However, I guess the question I am left wondering is whether this really is the best way to measure men? Is someone's significance really measured in their number of friends or is it something else. Many people think that their significance is found in the jobs they have, the money they earn, the stuff they possess, the position they hold, the things they have achieved, the abilities they have as well as their popularity. I have found it's very difficult to not judge people on these criteria. It's very difficult not to see the popular person's significance in their popularity or the footballer's significance in his footballing ability. It's difficult to not view the person with a great job differently because of the job. It's difficult not to see the fact that someone is stinking rich as significant. Their are many things which make me think of someone as significant.

However, Hebrews 11 suggests that it is something else which makes someone significant. It is not the money they earn, the things they achieve or even their number of friends. No it is the faith they demonstrate within their lives. So Hebrews 11v6 says 'without faith it is impossible to please him (God)'. So do you see your significance before God is not found in the things which we think make someone significant but rather in the faith you demonstrate. So it doesn't matter if you have loads of friends, loads of money, if you are really nice or even super religious. What matters is whether you have faith in God and the salvation he offers through Jesus' death on the cross. It is then by allowing that faith to impact your life that your life becomes significant even if you only have 166 facebook friends, no money and have never done anything worthy of note!

Whatever happened to heroes?

2010-12-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I had a whole host of heroes. I had fictional heroes, like liono. I had footballing heroes, like Ugo Ehiogu (or Juninho). I was used to the idea of looking up to people who seemed to be better than me.

As I've grown up I've sort of gradually grown out of heroes. Liono turned out to be a moralising prude and Ugo Ehiogu got old, slow and rubbish. Throughout life you quickly realise that heroes are flawed and tend to fail and so you give up having them.

However, I've been thinking about this a lot recently and have reached the conclusion that actually the largest reason why people grow out of having heroes has nothing to do with other people and everything to do with their view of myself. What I reckon happens is that we grow up and we become more and more self satisfied and so we have less and less heroes. We forget our weaknesses and failings (which we were so aware of when we were kids) and instead convince ourselves we're awesome explaining away and mistakes we make through a variety of adult means.

As a Christian I accept that I am imperfect but still fall into this self satisfied trap. I need to learn to recognise that other people are better than me. They are more godly, they are more patient, they are kinder, they are more passionate or whatever and I need to therefore look up to them and seek to be more like them. After all Paul (the apostle) calls on people to imitate him.

Yes heroes are flawed and if you're looking for perfection they will let you down. Yes you do have to be careful about building people up too much. However, if the solution to this is simply being self satisfied and assuming you have nothing to learn from other people then I wonder if we need to learn to have a slightly lower view of ourselves and get a few heroes back into our lives!

James Dean, Death and Living for now

2010-11-25T04:34:00.000-08:00

When I was at university I remember this poster being an ever present in poster shops. I think it was so popular because the sentiments at the bottom of this,

'Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.'

sum up most students attitude towards life. Death may be coming but the only thing we can do about it is make the most of each day we get.

Now cool though James Dean undoubtedly looks, this poster somewhat irritates me.

Firstly I don't think it's possible for most people. You see only rich people can live each day like it's their last. I unfortunately have to live many days as if it's not my last so that I can enjoy other days more. I work all week so that on Friday I can have a takeout. If I lived Monday like it was my last I would not work but I assume I'll be around at the weekend, I assume I'll be around in 6 months for a holiday and so live days looking forward to that.

However, even if it were possible I'm not sure it's terribly helpful. You see what this in essence says is that death is a reality but there's nothing you can do about it so just enjoy whatever time you get! Now this is not terribly liberating but may be as good as we can hope for if death is a reality and there is nothing we can do to get ready. Now death is a reality and it's coming for all of us so the only question we're left with is can we do anything to get ready for it? Is death really the end and if not what do we do to prepare for what comes after.

People tend not to think about this issue and so fall into an attitude simply says, 'Death is coming. There's nothing I can do about it so I'd better make the most of however much time I've got.'

However, the Bible suggests that there is something after death. That death is not the end and that after that there will be eternity. If this is true then suddenly life is about more than just doing what you can with the time you have. If this is true then life is about getting ready for eternity.

In order to be ready for the perfect world God says he is creating we surely have to be made perfect. Jesus asserts that he can offer us forgiveness (through his death on the cross) and that he will then make us perfect so we are ready for this world (a work completed after we die not before). Life is therefore about getting to know Jesus, finding the forgiveness and life he offers as this is something which will outlast death.

So is there anything after death? If not then eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. But if there is something after death then don't waste your life assuming that there isn't.

Why I love being right

2010-11-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

There are few greater sensations than being right. Whether it's successfully predicting what's going to happen in a situation or winning a quiz or, the ultimate, winning an argument, being right is a fantastic experience and I love it.

However, I suddenly realise that this might be a problem. Proverbs 12v15 reads...

'The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.'

So there may be a problem with my being right. It may be that actually I'm not right at all I'm just so stupid that I think I'm right.

You see it's possible to be right because you are right. 2+2=4 is right and I know this because I have sufficient information to know.

However, when I was growing up I was convinced that Chesney Hawks 'I am the one and only' was the best song ever recorded as I blasted it out from my bedroom. Now here I thought I was right but actually I was a fool. I just didn't have enough information. I didn't know enough songs and so despite being right in my own eyes the whole world could see I was a fool.

So here's the challenge for me? Stop thinking I'm right all the time, stop valuing thinking/proving that I am right and start listening to people. You see what this proverb encourages us to do is keep an open mind and keep questioning those things which we think are right.

People tend to be very bad at doing this. Christian tend to sit happily on their theology confident they are right and not allowing it to be challenged. You may be right but you also may be a fool without the information necessary to make you realise you are a fool. So go to church an be challenged, read books and be challenged, talk to people and be challenged. People who aren't Christians though can be just as bad. They think they are right and know so much but never expose them to things which challenge those ideas. You might be right or you just might not have enough information to realise you are wrong. I mean why not venture into a church? Why not talk to a Christian? Why not read a gospel? Why not get more information and allow what you know to be right to be challenged?

'The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.'

Is it logical to say that there is a God of love when there is so much suffering in the world?

2010-10-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

The presence of so much suffering in the world can seem inexplicable to many people of many different beliefs. It can, however, seem especially incompatible with a belief in an all powerful, all knowing and all loving God. However, suffering is not something new and it is something which Christianity has long learned to live with and about which the Bible has much to say. The Bible offers a number of coherent explanations regarding the existence of suffering in our world. However, it must be acknowledged that it does not offer comprehensive answers. Precisely how we fit the tragic death of a baby into this framework can, at times, seem unclear. However, the Bible is also clear that we should not expect to be able to understand why God permits so much evil in this world. The Bible stresses that God does not think like we think and that we are incapable of approaching him as his intellectual equal. However, in a sceptical age it seems unreasonable to hold such blind faith in our own cognitive facilities that we believe that if we cannot see the entirety of the explanation for all suffering there must not be one.

The Bible offers a framework for understanding suffering which, although not complete, is certainly logical. In fact the Bible offers considerable explanation for the existence of so much suffering in our world which is noticeably lacking in other frameworks and philosophies. Any claim that it is not logical to believe in a God of love when there is so much suffering in the world fails to take seriously the explanations given by the same Bible which asserts that God is a God of love. However, ultimately the belief in the God of the Bible is not a result of a logical analysis of the suffering in our world. Rather belief in the God of the Bible is a result of God’s revelation to us primarily in the person of Jesus Christ. Even if the existence of so much suffering in the world does create a logical barrier to believing in the God of the Bible this is not strong enough evidence to counteract the evidence for believing in him offered by the written accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. In the person of Jesus, God came to earth as a human and revealed himself to us. He lived on earth, he suffered on earth, he died on earth and he came back to life on earth. The evidence offered by eye witness accounts is so strong that any problems offered by the existence of suffering cannot be sufficient to logically keep anyone from believing in the God of love the Bible presents.

The temporary nature of suffering

2010-10-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

At the heart of the issue of suffering (this is part 4 of the discussion I think) is the question of if there was a God of love why would he not do away with all suffering and make a world where there is none of the suffering which seems to plague our world? Although the Bible gives us numerous reasons why God currently allows suffering in this world, the Bible’s answer to this question is that ultimately this is exactly what God is going to do. The Bible clearly states that one day Jesus will return to judge this world finally. On that day this world will be destroyed and God will create a new world. The Bible describes this new creation as a place with no tears, no death, no mourning and no more pain. So the very thing people think that God should do is, absolutely, his intention. If the question is why a God of love would not create a new world in which there was no more suffering then the answer is that he is going to.

So why not now? Why does God not just get on and create this new world? The Bible’s answer to this begins with the assertion that not all people will be a part of this new creation. In order to be part of God’s perfect new world people must be made righteous. As none of us have lived righteous lives we cannot rely on this and so we must be made righteous by faith. Therefore it is only those who have believed in Jesus and accepted the forgiveness he offers who will be part of this new creation and escape the full judgment they deserve. Therefore God does not bring in this new creation immediately so as to give as many people as possible the opportunity to find the righteousness offered through faith in Jesus and, therefore, be spared their just punishment and, instead, become part of his new creation without pain or suffering. It is perfectly logical for God to create a world with no more suffering. However, it is equally logical for a God of love to delay this, even if that means the continuation of suffering on earth if, by doing so, he can give more people time to find the righteousness he offers and be able to become a part of his new creation without any pain or suffering.

The rehabilitative nature of suffering

2010-10-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

Whilst we must not overlook the punitive nature of this world’s suffering the Bible also clearly presents suffering as rehabilitative. Suffering is not merely God’s judgment but also one of God’s means of challenging and changing people. The most significant way the Bible talks about God using suffering is to call people to repentance. This is seen throughout the Bible. The pattern of people rejecting God, people suffering and people returning to God is present throughout the pages of the Old Testament. This is again seen clearly in the book of Joel. Whilst Joel does begin by showing that the locust plague is God’s judgment, he then moves on to use this judgment to encourage the people to repent. Joel seems to clearly indicate that the correct response to recognising that suffering is a result of God’s judgment is repentance. Jesus also sees suffering as a call for people to repent. In Luke 13v1-5 Jesus uses examples of suffering to remind people that this is what all people deserve and that repentance represents the only correct response.

So whilst the suffering humanity endures clearly represents part of God’s punishment on humanity it is also used by him to remind people of their rebellion and the judgment which they deserve in order to bring them back to him in repentance. It is therefore completely logical for God to give this world some small tokens of the judgment they deserve, if by doing so, he can cause some people to turn to him in repentance and avoid his final judgment.

However, God does not only use suffering to bring people to repentance and back into relationship with him but he also uses it to bring about other good effects. The suffering of individuals throughout history has, at times, brought great benefits to both the individual and society at large and so the fact that suffering can lead to good results is undeniable. However, the Bible does not merely observe this reality but repeatedly claims that God uses suffering to make them better people. In Romans 5v3-5 suffering is presented as God’s means for producing endurance, character and hope. In James 1v2-4 suffering is seen as the very thing which tests people’s faith and makes them perfect, complete and lacking in nothing. The Bible repeatedly presents suffering as part of God’s plan for moulding his people and making them better. God created us to be in relationship with him, to love each other and care for creation and suffering is one of the means he uses to make us more like the people he created us to be. The greatest problem to people’s enjoyment of this world and fulfilment in life is not suffering but, rather, their inability to live in it as God intended. It is therefore completely logical for God to allow suffering if by this people are changed in such a way that they live life more like God intended them to.

The punitive nature of suffering

2010-10-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

However, we do have to acknowledge that there is a certain amount of suffering in our world which would exist even if humanity were not involved. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts and famines may cause more suffering because of human involvement but would still cause some suffering even without. The Bible clearly states that it is God who rules this world and who sustains it. This leads to the question of why a God of love would allow such suffering to come into the world? Surely if he is omnipotent, omniscient and completely good he would rule the world differently so that the suffering of natural disasters were not a part of it.

However, the Bible clearly presents suffering as not merely permitted by God, but part of his plan for this universe. In the beginning God created a world in which there was no suffering. However, when mankind rejected God and decided they wanted to live their own way, then, not only did humanity begin causing suffering for themselves, but also God judged them by bringing suffering into their lives. So in Genesis 3v14-19 we see God pronouncing his judgment on people for their disobedience to him. This judgment includes a breakdown in the relationship between people and the natural world so that the natural world now is the cause of much suffering for humanity. The Bible therefore clearly presents suffering as part of God’s judgment on humanity for their rebellion. Throughout the Bible we see humanity’s suffering repeatedly as God’s judgment. The book of Joel was written regarding a locust plague which had devastated Israel and Joel clearly presents this as a judgment from God. So the explanation the Bible gives for suffering is that it is not merely allowed by God but rather it is part of God’s judgment on a world which has rejected him.

This leaves us with an obvious question of whether it is logical for a God of love to bring such suffering into the world as judgment? Many people see the idea that God loves and that God judges as mutually exclusive. So God is presented as either a God of love or a God of judgment but certainly not both. The problem is that these two aspects of God’s character are not mutually exclusive but rather mutually dependent. If God truly loves creation and he loves people then he must judge people when they act wrongly towards it. When God sees the damage we have done to our world by rejecting him and going our way God cannot simply ignore it because he loves his creation too much. The ability to ignore evil is not a sign of love but rather of moral indifference. It is precisely because God loves the world that he cannot let our wilful abuse of it go unpunished. Humanity’s problem is that we have forgotten how bad we are and therefore lost sight of the judgment we deserve. It is a mark of our lostness that we think we deserve the times of blessing and prosperity and that the times of suffering are not only unfair but call into question God’s goodness, or his power or even his existence. Really the truth is that we deserve much more severe judgment than we receive but the peace and tranquillity we enjoy show us God’s goodness and forbearance. The Bible therefore presents the suffering we receive as a logical part of God’s judgment on us for rejecting him, rejecting his ways and damaging his creation.

Human responsibility for suffering

2010-10-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

The first thing the Bible asserts is that human beings are responsible for their actions and therefore the suffering they cause. As we examine whether the existence of so much suffering makes belief in a God of love illogical it is essential that we do not overlook humanity’s contribution to that suffering. Secular journalist and author P.J. O’Rourke sums up humanity’s contribution to the suffering in this world brilliantly in the introduction to his book, ‘Holidays in Hell’. He writes:

‘I wanted to know where trouble came from and why the world was such a lousy place. I wasn’t curious about natural disasters – earthquakes, mudslides, floods and droughts. These are nothing but the losing side of the Grand Canyon coin toss. OK, it’s sad. Now what? I was curious about the trouble man causes himself and which he could presumably quit causing himself at the drop of a hat, or, anyway, a gun. I wanted to know why life, which ought to be an only moderately miserable thing, is such a frightful, disgusting, horrid thing for so many people in so many places.’

The first explanation of why there is so much suffering in the world is that it’s because of people’s actions. The Bible’s summary of God’s standard for people is that they love him with all their being and that they love other people like they love themselves. It is mankind’s failure to obey God specifically in this second area which is responsible for there being so much suffering in the world. The fact that people choose to do terrible things in this world which God created cannot easily be used to demonstrate God’s lack of love. When you examine the suffering of the world you cannot help but conclude that much of it is a consequence of human action. War and violence are obvious examples. When you consider, however, how much suffering man could prevent then mankind’s responsibility becomes even more striking. When you consider the three million children who die each year from diseases for which immunisations are developed and available and the deaths from flooding in Bangladesh which are compounded by both tree felling up-stream and the fact that the poor are made to live in dangerous low lying areas, it becomes apparent that even much suffering which we would consider humanity to be innocent of is still a result of human decisions and actions.

The question which humanity is ultimately left with is not how a God of love can exist in a world where there is so much suffering but rather how humanity can be responsible for so much suffering. The Bible clearly says that mankind’s decision to reject God and go their own way has led to a break down in relationships between humans. This leads to human’s acting badly and inflicting much suffering on each other. Fundamentally the Bible’s answer to the huge amount of suffering caused by humanity is that we have all rejected God and his ways. This rejection causes us to be slaves to sin and so makes us incapable of loving people as we should. It is this lack of love for each other which leads to the pride, greed, selfishness, anger, hatred and neglect which causes so much of the suffering in this world. This Biblical answer not only offers some explanation of how it is logical to believe in a God of love in a world with so much suffering but it also offers an explanation for why man causes so much suffering. The Biblical answer of humanity’s fallen nature leading to us damaging the world and harming each other offers a logical explanation of why humanity inflicts so much suffering on itself. It is the Bible which makes us able to answer P.J. O’Rourke’s question of why man causes life to be such a frightful, disgusting and horrid thing for so many people.

Is it logical to say that God is love when there is so much suffering in the world

2010-10-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

Seeing as people seemed interested in this general idea I thought I would post some more detailed thoughts over the next few days. Here is part 1!

Human beings have always found the world to be a somewhat ambiguous place. Whilst there is incredible goodness, beauty and creativity in the world there is also much evil, ugliness and destruction. Reconciling the existence of both good and evil, of suffering and tranquillity has proved to be a challenge for people throughout history. Some have suggested that a multiplicity of rival gods offers a logical explanation. People’s suffering is therefore a result of the capricious nature of the various gods or of which god has gained ascendancy at any one time. Human suffering is therefore often seen as little more than a by product of ongoing conflict between a variety of gods. Others have seen suffering not as the result of random interactions of a number of deities but rather as a simple conflict between two forces. Perhaps in its most common form this solution argues that there is a good God who brings everything which is good into the world and a bad devil who brings everything which is evil in the world. This sort of dualism argues that sometimes evil gains the upper hand and so people suffer and sometimes good does and so the diversity of human experience is again logically explained. Recently another logical explanation to suffering in the world has emerged in the form of scientific reasoning. Atheist scientist and author Richard Dawkins explains suffering in the following way in his book entitled 'River out of Eden'

‘In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no other good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.’

Suffering is therefore explained as a result of nothing more than the physical forces and natural laws which dominate our universe. As we examine these suggested explanations we are left with two questions. The first question is whether these explanations represent a logical explanation of the amount of suffering in the world? Do physical forces and natural laws really explain the irrational murder of 13 schoolchildren and suicide of the murderer which occurred in Dunblane on 13 March 1996? Do physical forces and natural laws offer any logical explanation of the seemingly irrational kindness and sacrifice seen by people throughout history? The second question is whether even if they do offer logical explanations there is any reason to believe that what they are saying is true. A multiplicity of gods may explain the co-existence of real evil and suffering and real goodness and joy but is there any reason to believe in a multiplicity of gods? The mere fact that something may offer a logical explanation for there being so much suffering in the world is not enough to accept it as the correct explanation.

A Christian is forced to answer the same question as anyone else. Why is there so much suffering in the world? This question is made more complicated by their assertion that God is omnipotent, omniscient and completely good. Surely it is not logical to believe that a being who knows everything (presumably including about all suffering), can do anything (presumably including prevent suffering) and loves perfectly (presumably including those who are suffering) can exist in a world with so much suffering. Whilst this assertion sounds convincing it remains only an assertion until the Bible’s explanation for the existence of so much suffering in our world is examined and proved to be illogical.

To be continued...

The curious incident of the baby in the night time

2010-10-11T09:19:00.001-07:00

Being the father of 9 month old twins is a great joy most of the time. However, when one of them is awake screaming at 4 O Clock in the morning it quickly becomes one of those few times it is not. During these times I find myself babbling like a pagan asking God to stop her from crying so that I can get some sleep (oh and so that she's happy of course). However, sometimes God doesn't answer this prayer and she screams for hours and hours.

Now I know what goes on in my head at these times. I start reasoning with myself and my reasoning goes like this.

There is no reason why God would want this to happen.

I am asking God to stop it.

God wants to bless me and wouldn't pointlessly put me through this.

Therefore either God doesn't exist or he lacks the power influence to do anything about it.

This argument might sound stupid but it is the heart of the suffering argument made by many people and experienced by me regularly at 4 O clock in the morning.

Fortunately by the morning I am normally thinking more clearly and realise that just because I don't see a reason doesn't mean that there isn't one. The argument is ridiculous as it relies on us having absolute knowledge but yet it's such a common thought process in arrogant humanity.

Maybe through my baby's crying God is teaching me patience, maybe he is helping me to realise that in this fallen world even the best things (my amazing daughters) are not perfect and to long for something better! The fact is I don't know what God is doing but the fact that I can't see a reason is hardly a strong argument against the existence of God. Dawkins may talk of a God of that gaps this is well and truly an argument of the gaps.

How can you know? You have not been there!

2010-09-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

So I am currently watching through season 4 of House (yes I am behind) and was watching this episode where a guy tried to almost kill himself in order to get a taste of the afterlife without actually dying. House thinks the guy is a moron (which I have to say I do to - although for different reasons) because there is no such thing as an afterlife. Wilson responds to this by asking the question 'How can you be so sure there isn't anything after this. You haven't been there'. House responds by saying 'I don't have to go to Detroit to know it smells'. Wilson thinks this is a facile argument and they depart.

As a Christian I was watching this discussion with interest and here are my thoughts.

You don't have to go to Detroit to know it smells but you do have to have some information about it. You have to be getting some information from someone who has actually been there otherwise how would you actually know? If you have no contact with anyone who's actually been to Detroit then how could you know? If House is so adamant that there is no afterlife then he can't get information from someone who's actually been there and so his reasoning is always going to be fallible.

However, Wilson's answer is equally infuriating because all he is promoting is a 'we can't know for sure' attitude. If that is the case then who gives a monkey's whether it's there or not? If we can't know. If we don't have enough information then it can't really impact our lives.

The Biblical answer to this question is that there is an after life and we can know about it because someone has been there and told us about it. That person is Jesus Christ. So I don't believe every nut job who says they saw lights etc. But I do believe that at a point in history God came to earth and told us, not that Detroit smells, but that the afterlife is real and that we need to get ready for it.

What would God say to Raoul Moat?

2010-09-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the accounts of the murders committed by Raoul Moat and the manhunt which followed and decided to do a talk on what God would say to him. You see we all like to think about what we would say to God but actually what God would say to us is much more important.

At the end of the manhunt (which lasted almost a week) Raoul Moat was faced with two options. Kill himself or spend the rest of his life in jail. He decided he did not want to spend the rest of his life in jail and so killed himself. Whether it was that he couldn't live with what he'd done or merely with the consequences of what he'd done he decided to escape it by killing himself.

The first thing I think God would say to Raoul Moat is therefore that he can't run away from what he's done. God says that one day he will judge the living and the dead and so even suicide cannot get you out of answering for what you've done with the life God gave you. Raoul Moat will have to answer for the lives he took and the people he hurt and I will have to answer for the crimes I have committed and the people I have hurt. Raoul Moat wanted to avoid this but even death can't get you out of it.

This is why forgiveness is the centrepiece of Christianity. Because none of us are perfect and we cannot escape having to answer for the bad things we've done the only hope we possibly have is forgiveness. We cannot run away so we must cry out to God for forgiveness. The amazing message of the gospel is that because of Jesus death in our place that forgiveness is guaranteed for all who ask.

Jesus died next to a criminal who found forgiveness there as he was dying. Raoul Moat could have found the same forgiveness and so can I. All we need to do is stop thinking we can get away with it. Stop thinking we can escape the consequences and ask!

How we deal with Jesus Part 3

2010-09-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

O.K. so some people want to lead and they want Jesus to follow. Some people like having Jesus around but don't want any real relationship but Jesus himself repeatedly calls people to follow him. The question is what does it mean to follow Jesus?

Well although this might need some unpacking today for many of the people Jesus said it to it was relatively straightforward. They just left whatever they were doing and followed him. They learned from him, became friends with him, served him, loved him and many of them died for him. However, as we look around the church today we may be surprised at how far it has moved from this model. For no-one Jesus met did following merely mean something intellectual. They all actually did follow.

So the really bizarre thing is that our churches seem to be full of people who say they follow Jesus without actually doing anything. They intellectually assent to a number of beliefs however they do not seem to have left what they were doing to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is always about leaving one life and beginning another. So why do so many people seem able to say they follow Jesus without giving any time to him, without learning from him, without obeying him, without sacrificing anything for him and ultimately without doing anything which demonstrates any love for him. Surely the act of following Jesus has to involve some act of following not just a set of things we say we believe.

So as we think about how we relate to Jesus perhaps the biggest question is not do we say are following him but are we actually following him. Read a gospel and just look at the things those who followed him did and then look at your life and see how you measure up. It's an honour, a joy and a privilege to follow Jesus. It gives you hope, it gives you relationship and it gives you not only a new way of doing life but a new life entirely. It's an amazing thing to do but just saying that you are following him does not necessarily mean you are. As they say in the bronx 'The proof of the pudding is in it's eating'.

(O.K. they probably don't say that in the bronx - but they should. It's a very useful phrase!)

How we deal with Jesus Part 2

2010-08-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

O.K. so in church we see a lot of people who relate to Jesus as co-pilot. Jesus is not the king, I am, and Jesus can play the role of consultant when it suits me. However, there are other people in church who don't relate to Jesus like this. No rather than allowing Jesus to follow them around they follow him. However, this can be done in a bad way. Some people in church seem to relate to Jesus as his stalker. They like to follow him round, they like to know a lot of information about him, they like to be at events they think he'll be at but there is no real relationship.

I think this is a huge danger in church. We go to all the church meetings, we like to find out about Jesus, we read books about him, we can tell people more about him than anyone else but there is no friendship, no love, no real and meaningful interaction between us and Jesus. I think most of us would agree that stalking someone is not the same as a real relationship and yet it's very easy to con people into thinking we have a real relationship with Jesus when really all we are doing is stalking him to gain information about him!

So the question we're left with is are we actually nothing more than a slightly weird Jesus stalker? Are we more interested in knowing about him than knowing him? Are we more bothered about being around 'Jesus things' than we are actually relating to Jesus.

To reduce Jesus to an advisory role fails to recognise how awesome Jesus is but to simply stalk him fails to recognise how approachable he is. Many people in church confuse these ways of dealing with Jesus as real relationship wit him. I'd like to suggest that they're not!

How we deal with Jesus Part 1

2010-08-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot recently about the way which we relate to Jesus. You see I guess everyone relates to Jesus in some way whether it's as an insignificant person in history or as something more! However, what really interested me was how different people in the church relate to him so I'm going to look at a few different ways we see people relating to Jesus in the church.

1. Jesus as co-pilot

O.K. so this is something both Michael Hall and Paul Lintott were talking about at church and it struck me as so true. What we find in our churches is people who basically want to pilot their own lives but are fine for Jesus to help out a little bit every now and again. If I'm in a bit of a fix or if it's something I don't really care about then Jesus can do a bit but if not then I'll do it by myself. We see this all the time in the church.

People who only obey Jesus when it fits in with their lifestyle

People who only obey Jesus when it fits in with their view of the world

Churches which are more committed to their way of doing things than to what Jesus wants!

If we relate to Jesus as co-pilot we are making 2 mistakes.

1 - We think we are capable of piloting our lives

2 - We think we know more than Jesus

To judge when Jesus deserves to be followed and obeyed and when he doesn't assumes that we know more than him. The problem is that he knows everything and that we don't! You can relate to Jesus as your co-pilot but ultimately you are not really relating to him properly and you are not relying on him at all. If this is you then you are still relying on yourself and unfortunately you are not capable of bringing about the forgiveness and transformation you need. Jesus is not your co-pilot, he's not your PA, he's too good for that!

Being Married to Cal Lightman

2010-07-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

I have recently been watching through the TV show 'Lie to me'. In this show the main guy (Cal Lightman) has studied micro-expressions (if such things exist) for years in order to be able to spot when someone is lying and the different emotions they display. As seems to be the want in programmes such as these he is separated from his wife and has relationship issues.

In one of the episodes his ex-wife turns up and they spar in an ex-husband and wife sort of way before she explains why the marriage didn't work. She said that she just wanted to be with someone who didn't know every time she was lying, every time she was even moderately attracted to another man and every different emotion she felt.

I guess most of can empathise with this thought. It would be terrible if someone knew every lie we told, every emotion we felt etc. This is, however, what the Bible says that God can do. It says that God knows everything about us (see this for example) and can as such see every lie, every selfish thought or act, every wicked intention or desire. The amazing thing about God when compared to Cal Lightman is not only that he knows more but that despite all this knowledge he still loves you. God sees it all but still was willing to die for you so that you could find that forgiveness.

The fact that the idea of someone knowing you completely terrifies you shows your need of forgiveness. However, it is by asking this very same person to forgive you that it become possible to find forgiveness and a hope that one day you won't feel so ashamed!

Freedom

2010-07-20T06:54:00.000-07:00

O.K. so being horribly behind the times I didn't hear the world cup theme tune 'waving flag' until after the world cup had actually finished. However, having heard it I couldn't help but be intrigued. As a song it has a very upbeat and hopeful feel and is easy to memorise (I was struck by this when a kid in our church knew all the words). However, what I couldn't help thinking while I was listening was what a big part the hope of freedom played in the song. So it starts off talking about freedom and each chorus it says 'they'll call me freedom. Just like a waving flag'. I can't help but wonder why this idea of freedom plays such a big part in upbeat, aspirational songs.

Many of us would consider ourselves to be free and yet we still long for greater freedom. Why is this? I think it's because we all still feel like we cannot be the people we long to be. We may be free in many ways but when we look at our lives it seems like we still feel trapped by circumstances or natural constraints.

So I feel trapped by my inability to be the person I want to be.

I feel trapped by circumstances which require me to do certain things.

I feel trapped by my need of money and other resources.

I feel trapped by all my limitations.

We therefore all have this desire to be free. Jesus describes all people as slaves to sin and death this would seem to be supported by the fact we all do bad things, we all day and we all have this desire to be more free. However, Jesus also says that he is the person who can set us free.

It's easy to think that we are free and that Jesus wants to enslave us. However, this is to forget the sense of limitation and constraint we all feel in everyday life. The truth is that we are not free and that it is actually by finding forgiveness, a new heart and a new way of life that we can begin to see just how free Jesus makes us. As we recognise this we look forward to a new life of complete freedom, with Jesus either when we die or he returns.

I guess many people hope that throughout their life they will become more free but actually time and age are just as incapable of freeing us as we are ourselves. If like me you hope to become more free then you need to find someone with the power and inclination to free you from the limitations of our sin, a sinful world and death. Look at Jesus' life and you'll see that he not only has the power but also the will to do just this!

Unity and Secondary Issues

2010-07-14T02:38:00.001-07:00

During the past couple of weeks we have been blessed by having a team of students from some northern universities come to serve in our church. It would be fair to say that although this has been busy it has been an incredible experience for me personally and, I hope, for the church as a whole. To see God working and people in Hartlepool engaging with truths they previously weren't engaging with has been fantastic.

However, through the process of looking through the book of Ephesians as Christians from different churches and different backgrounds the issue of being united despite theological or ecclesiastical differences became not simply an academic issue but a practical one.

Is it possible for Christians to hold different positions on secondary (non gospel) issues and still be united? I guess most Christians would say yes and this fortnight has certainly demonstrated that to be true.

However I guess a better question is 'Is it possible for one Christian to say that another Christian is wrong and still be united?' Following a long discussion last night I think that this must be possible. If not then I don't see how we can ensure that we are sitting under the Bible's authority. We want to be being moulded and changed by the Bible and so for a fellow Christian to say to me 'I think your wrong about this issue and this is biblically why I think it' shouldn't threaten me or cause disunity but should rather serve to help me to sit under the Bible's authority better whether I am convinced by his argument or not.

So how do Christians unite? Well I think the temptation is to boil Christianity down to the bare minimum (the deity and humanity of Christ, his death for our sins, the resurrection followed by a response of faith and repentance) and then say anything goes with the rest. But the Bible has more to say than that and we should have more to say too. Just saying that I believe the Bible says that this is a right approach to a secondary issue does not mean I have divided myself from people who hold a different position.

In my church there are a number of people who are Christians but have not been baptised. I think that these people are wrong because I think the Bible repeatedly calls on Christians to be baptised. So what do I do with this? Well I hold that position, I am not scared to voice it but as a church there is no lack of unity because of it because unity comes through Christ's work in us.

It is the job of both the person disagreeing and the person being disagreed with to not allow this to cause division because you both belong to Christ and so are united.

I could have taken ecstasy but I didn't

2010-06-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

Meadow Soprano throws the mother of all parties at her grandmother's abandoned house. 100s of people turn up. The house get's trashed, she ends up drunk and the police have to get called to break it all up. All in all I think it's fair to say that it's the kind of thing most parents would consider to be somewhat out of order.

However, on being confronted about this she comes out with the following line 'I could have taken ecstasy but I didn't'. It strikes me what a weak defence this is. Just because you could have done something arguably worse that doesn't mean that what you did was o.k. In some ways that is irrelevant to the seriousness of what she has done.

Yet how often we use the same defence. So when I think an unkind thought about someone I say to myself 'What's your problem? I could have said something unkind to them but I didn't'. Or when I say something horrible to my wife I say to myself 'What's your problem? I could have physically attacked her but I didn't'. Or maybe when I lie a bit on my tax return I say to myself 'What's your problem I could have lied about loads of things but I didn't'. The problem with this defence is that much like Meadow's it is weak. It's true that I could have done those things which I didn't but that in no ways excuses the unkind thought, the horrible speech or the lie on my tax return. The truth is that I shouldn't have been thinking unkind thoughts, speaking horribly or lying/stealing at all!

We wouldn't expect a burglar to get away with it if his defence was simply that he could have killed the guy he was burgling but he didn't. The fact you didn't do something worse is irrelevant. How can a non-action make up for an action. We may not be as bad as we could be but that is no defence for how bad we are. When we realise this we have no option but to turn to Jesus for forgiveness!

The spy who came in from the cold

2010-06-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

For book club this month we read 'The Spy who came in from the cold' by le Carre. It is a book set in the cold war which deals with a main character, who seems to believe in nothing, attempting to infiltrate and arrange the death of a member of East Germany's security force. In the story you seem to have the main guys pragmatism contrasted with the misplaced ideology of those who believe passionately in either communism or western capitalism.

It struck me as I was reading that what seems to occur in this book is not that people change their ideologies but rather that other things (a romance, a friendship, money, power, success) become more important to them than their ideology. So although on paper they would still have the same ideology the determining factor in their life is no longer primarily their ideological belief but rather something else. This process also seems to be at the heart of the film 'The lives of others'.

Now it seems to me that although ideological shifts do occur this process goes on a lot in churches. So whilst some people who once believed the Christian message of Jesus come to a point where they no longer believe that, many more don't reject it but rather find that through their life other things become more important than their Christianity to them. So they pursue a relationship which they find becomes more important to them and then they get a bit of money and find that the acquisition of money becomes more important to them and then they find a cause and find that this becomes more important to them than their faith. What then occurs is that they actually are no longer living according to their ideology despite the fact that they would still say that they hold to that ideology.

I think as Christians we must be careful that we allow our ideology to dictate our actions and values rather than drifting through life and finding that it is our actions and circumstances which have determined our ideology.

It is not what Jesus does...

2010-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

.. it's what he says that I have a problem with. That's what Mrs Soprano says to her Priest. When she said it I couldn't help but feel just how accurately this summed up many people's views of Jesus today. They like the idea of a guy who goes around feeding people and healing people and all of that. It's just when Jesus opens his mouth to talk that we have a problem.

We don't like it when Jesus talks about the fact that none of us are perfect and as such none of us are good enough for God. We don't like it when Jesus bangs on about being the only way to God and heaven. We don't like it when Jesus keeps insisting that his death is the thing which really matters and we don't liken it when Jesus talks about the judgment we will have to face if we reject his offer of forgiveness!

It strikes me that many people blandly say that Jesus was a decent enough person without really knowing what he said. If you actually listen to what Jesus said then he was not just a nice guy who did a few nice things but doesn't have anything to say to you. No he is a man who says extreme things which you have to do something with. At least Carmella is trying to engage with the stuff Jesus said unlike most people who assume it's just nice soundbites which it's fine to ignore.

Why not read something Jesus said (you could start with this?) and start thinking about if he was mad, bad or the God in human form he claimed to be!

Pride

2010-05-22T04:24:00.001-07:00

As I was driving around Hartlepool the other day I saw this advert. Now whilst understanding the premise and generally being a fan of doing your own cooking I couldn't help but think of another advert which says 'Time - You won't find it in home baking'

However, I have found it a strangely thought provoking advert. You see it works on the premise that we all want to believe that we have achieved something. We want to feel that we have worked hard and that we have done something which we can be proud of. I can't help but wonder if this is why biblical Christianity is so unpopular. Biblical Christianity says that actually you can't do anything to make yourself good enough for God. You can't work hard, do the right stuff and achieve some level where you'll be good enough for God. No Biblical Christianity says that you are not good enough for God and that even your best attempts are rubbish. Biblical Christianity says that what we need is someone else to do the work for us. It's the ready meal approach. Biblical Christianity shows us that even though we're well off the mark we can be forgiven and made good enough not through our own efforts but through Jesus dying to take the punishment we deserve and giving us a new heart which means that one day, in heaven, we will be perfect.

Like this advert acknowledges people like pride. You can find pride in being a good person and feeling that you've managed to become a pretty nice person. You can find pride in your intellect and believing that you're cleverer than others. You can find pride in the way you care for people. You can find pride in your religious activities, your praying, church attendance, giving to charity, bead work etc. However you can't find it in Christianity. I wonder if this is why hedonism, moralism and religion are so popular but genuine Christianity is not. The problem with pride is that if you're not feeling proud, if you've had a bad day or realised your not as good as you thought you were, then you so easily slump into despair. So we have this weird mix in our society of pride and low self esteem as people battle to feel superior but when they fail end up feeling rubbish. Christianity should leave no place for either.

Pride - You won't find it in Christianity but you will find forgiveness, relationship with God and a future based not on you making an impossible grade but on grace!

Counselling does not deal with the soul

2010-05-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

Or so Carmela Soprano says. On hearing that her husband is going to therapy she says that is doesn't deal with the soul, that's something else, but it's a start.

I found this a fascinating comment on the way our society thinks of the soul and of religion. People seem to think of religion as basically counselling with a spiritual edge. So Carmela thinks that ordinary counselling is good but religion is better. It strikes me that many religious people think like this and that most people think of religion as sort of some weird form of counselling! People who are struggling in life can find help in counselling but religion might prove a cheaper option!

However, despite all the depressing assumptions she seems to be making about Christianity what she says is ultimately right. Counselling may be good but ultimately it cannot deal with the soul. She speaks better than she knows. Lots of people, Christians included, have things which they need to get out and talk through with someone, this is a good thing and it worries me that so many Christians are so insular. However, talking through issues is not really what Christianity is about. Church is not a place for people simply to talk about the different life pressures they have. No Christianity is a place which offers you a way to sort out our soul.

Humanity's problem is not something that can be solved merely by counselling (helpful though it may be). No our problem is that we have a propensity to do bad things and to not do good things. What we need is to find forgiveness and some hope that this can change. Counselling and self help cannot do this so Jesus dies to make it possible. He pays the price for our sin so that we can be forgiven and he offers salvation to our soul so we can look forward to being perfect in his new perfect world. Christianity is not and must not be simply a spiritual version of counselling because ultimately it offers forgiveness and salvation for our soul which no counsellor can grant us!

Is democracy really that good anyway?

2010-04-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

O.K. so in just over a week hordes of people will be descending on a collection of small buildings to put a cross in a box so that they can have their say on who can govern our country. We do this because we are, loosely speaking, a democracy and that is the way we run our nation. Now there are other ways to run a country (autocracies, monarchies, meritocracies, aristocracies etc) however, we in the west believe that democracy is the one and still seem to hold out hope that democracy will be strong enough to sort out the mess that is 21st century civilisation.

So we form international organisations, we educate people about democracy, we encourage other countries to adopt it, at times, we even forcibly take it into countries in the belief that if we can just spread democracy far enough we will be able to sort out our world.

The problem with democracy, as I see it, is me. That is to say that if I am anything to go by then democracy is doomed to failure. You see the problem is that I don't know enough, I can't do enough and I too often make bad or even evil/unkind/selfish decisions anyway. I therefore remain unconvinced that even 6 billion people who don't know enough, aren't strong enough and too often make evil/unkind/selfish decisions are going to be up to the challenge of sorting out our world.

You see democracy is all well and good but its track record isn't flawless. Democracy is fine until the majority want something you don't - then see the big guns (be it locally or internationally) throw around their social, financial or even sometimes military weight! Also what about when the majority are just wrong. There was a time where the majority believed that the earth was flat or that women were second class citizens. It's worth saying that the Nazis came to power in a democracy. You look at the world and you see that democracy has not solved the world's problems. The world is still plagues by wars, famine, exploitation, abuse, pain, division and a whole host of problems and much though it seems like we want to believe that democracy will be the world's saviour I personally don't see it! Democracy may well be the best sort of government a fallen, sinful and selfish humanity can hope for but it's certainly not up to the job of sorting our world out.

What we need is an all powerful, all knowing, morally perfect and completely loving ruler who will only ever make perfect decisions and do the right stuff. The Bible says that this ruler is God and that we rejected him and decided to try to rule earth our own way. However, Jesus came to earth to offer us forgiveness and a chance to come back under his rule. The Bible says that one day God will make a new earth which will be perfect because he will rule it perfectly. Their is a saviour for this world but it is not found in democracy but rather in a perfect rule by a perfect being. That's why getting to know Jesus, becoming a part of his community is so important because it is by doing this that we put ourselves back under God's rule and become a part of the new society he is rescuing for the new earth.

Humanity wants to believe that we can rule the world perfectly fine without God. History tells us that we can't. Jesus makes it possible for us to come back under God's rule so see if he has anything to offer because, significant though May 6th may be, it will not sort out this world!

A fresh start

2010-04-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

Just listening to a sermon (from #babc) on the story of Zacchaeus and the guy speaking was talking about how incredible Jesus' offer of a fresh start, of being born again is. The problem is I think that all too often we don't recognise this offer as amazing in any way.

One thing the guy said really struck me! He said imagine that you could go back to the start of your life again. Wouldn't it be amazing to have another go at life. To be able to have a go at doing life and see if you could get rid of some of the mistakes, see if you could make some better decisions. The thought of being able to do that sounds incredible but what Christianity offers is even better than that.

Christianity offers us forgiveness for those mistakes and a fresh start but it doesn't then leave us simply to make the same mistakes again. Rather Christianity gives us the Holy Spirit which changes our heart and starts making us better. Sure we still make mistakes, we still do things wrong but the Holy Spirit works in us and promises that one day we will be made perfect, when we go to be with God in the new heaven and new earth!

How do we make such an incredible offer and such an appealing one seem to uninspiring and so unappealing to so many people?

Maybe she's born with it

2010-04-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's Maybelline went the advert. I never quite got it because I always just assumed she was born with it and that the product couldn't really take the credit. However, in our youth meetings we are looking at Esther and this week we are looking at her being chosen to be queen. The amazing thing about this story is that she is chosen simply because of her beauty but then God uses her position as queen to rescue the Jewish people and to keep his plans for the salvation of people through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus in tact!

It struck me here that on the one hand it was Esther's beauty which got her the job as queen but on the other hand it was God's plan all along! So 'Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's God.' could be the slogan for the book of Esther! At times Christians can get so irritated with the superficial image culture that we see all around us that we write off physical beauty as unimportant. However, it's worth recognising that beauty doesn't have to be used purely for superficial ends, nor does it simply have to feed pride but God can use it for his glory and our good just as he did with Esther! Whatever God has given us the key is to bravely allow God to use it. As you read through the book of Esther you have to conclude that she certainly did this!

Now you are ahead of everyone else

2010-04-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today I was walking through town and I saw an advert for a new iphone type thing and it said this (or something like) - 'Now you're ahead of everyone else'. Now this advert struck me because it made me realise just how obsessed we are with status and being ahead of other people.

You see the fact that this phone is ahead of everyone else's shouldn't really matter. After all what should matter is how good the phone is. If the advert said 'this phone is better than other phones because it has this, this, this and this' then it makes sense. After all that's what matters. What matters is how good the phone actually is. However, the manufacturers know that actually we don't care so much about how good the phone is but rather about how it makes us look. We like the idea of being ahead of everyone else.

Even our phone shopping so often comes down to that old ambition of being better than everyone else. Companies know that this ambition runs deep and so advertise accordingly - 'This phone/tv/car/perfume will make you better than all people who don't have it'. However, Jesus tells his followers to have a radically different ambition. Jesus says (see Mark 9v35-37) that his followers should not seek to make themselves better than others but rather should make their life ambition serving others regardless of their status. This is a radical ambition (you don't see adverts saying 'buy this phone it will make you appear worse and better at serving all people however unimportant') but it is the one we are called to so let's try at work, at home, at church wherever to avoid wanting to be ahead of everyone and instead think about how we can serve all!

How badly can I do this?

2010-04-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

I've just been to a seminar on church leadership at #nwa and have as such been prompted to ask this question.

At university I spent my life asking this question as I attempted to get through my history degree doing as little work as I could for the maximum possible result. I am fairly sure that this is not the best nor most rewarding way to work.

However, I do wonder whether in Christian work this is a question I should ask myself more. Rather than seeking to do things as well as I can maybe I should consider how badly I can do a thing for the same net gain? You see the temptation for me is to do anything I do as best as I can so that people realise just how clever/gifted I am. However, perhaps it would be a better use of time and better for my pride if I got used to trying to achieve the same things badly.

I don't want this to be an excuse for sloppy work however, let me give you an example. When writing this blog I could write it as I think it and not worry too much about grammar, punctuation, spelling and general articulateness. Alternatively I could work hard to ensure that the writing flows well, the argument sounds good, my use of English makes me sound clever etc. Now it may be that a better use of language or the correct grammar does make some difference to people's understanding of what I am writing however, it is more likely that it won't and so I can do it worse and as such use less time, worry less about how I look but get the same gain.

The same principle could be applied to preaching, youth work or whatever.

Maybe sometimes it'd be good to sometimes ask ourselves how badly can I do a thing to achieve what I want rather than killing ourselves to do it as well as we can so that we can feel better about ourselves and slowly burn ourselves out!

Bible Churches

2010-04-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm at New Word Alive (#NWA10) and I can't stop thinking about one sentiment Hugh Palmer said this morning. He said that what is important is not whether we believe in Bible teaching but whether we believe in Bible living.

It strikes me that in church most people would say they believe that good Bible teaching should be at the heart of what we do however, I do wonder whether we are as committed to Bible living.

So as individuals I often wonder if we are committed to hearing good sermons based on the Bible or to actually being transformed by Bible based sermons?

However, what worries me more is our attitude as churches. As churches are we constantly reviewing our practices based on what we are learning from the Bible? If our churches were really into Bible living not just Bible teaching you would imagine members' meetings would revolve around what we have been looking at in the Bible and how our church needs to change according to what the Bible teaches. Instead we make concession after concession in the name of pragmatism and spend members meeting talking about use of the building and paint jobs!

Hugh was spot on good Bible teaching is pointless if we are not going to bother with Bible living! I can't help but think our churches would be changing more if we were really committed to this!

Relationship with Jesus

2010-04-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

At church this weekend I was asked 2 questions.

1. Do you have a real relationship with Jesus

2. Are you willing for that relationship to grow?

I have been thinking about these two questions quite a bit and have had a few thoughts.

1. I am pretty sure that my relationship with Jesus is real but often forget that it is a relationship. I know it in my head and can talk about it a lot however my Christianity is often too wrapped up in the things I do rather than the person that I know! Having said that I also have to acknowledge that however real my relationship with Jesus is I will not be able to enjoy it fully until heaven due to the limitations caused by sin and therefore my own limitations. I cannot see Jesus, I cannot have a normal conversation with him and I cannot understand him.

2. I am in theory willing for my relationship with Jesus to grow however, yet again in practice I show a different desire. As I was thinking about this I was struck at how easy it is to settle for what you have. I have a relationship with Jesus and rather than longing and striving for that relationship to grow and grow I settle for the relationship I already have. I also find myself arguing about theories rather than acknowledging the simple truth that I have things I need to improve. I can enjoy a detailed discussion about how I need to become better at engaging with people about Christian things however, at the end of that discussion I can still fail to actually do it. Yet again I settle!

I find them good questions to ask and shall continue to think about them and make my life reflect what my lips say!

Good Friday

2010-04-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

There was nothing in the room to endear it to anyone. The walls were dark and empty, it was cold and there was no-one there. But it was locked and at least alone in this room he didn’t feel frightened. He hadn’t slept for a whole day and he knew that he should be exhausted but there was no chance of him sleeping tonight.

Jerusalem was always going to be dangerous but nothing could prepare him for the day he’d just had. It started with an arrest. His teacher, his guide, his leader, his friend. The person he’d spent the last three years of his life devoted to had been arrested. It all seemed to happen so fast. One minute it was just the group of them together and the next the soldiers were coming to take his friend away. He wanted to resist, he wanted to make it stop but it quickly became apparent that there was nothing anyone could do and so he had to watch as the soldiers led him away.

He decided to follow at a distance but it was obvious that Jerusalem was a dangerous place for him so he kept away and tried to avoid being noticed. But try as he might it seemed that people knew him and now in this room, alone he was forced to face up to the fact that whilst his friend was being tried, whilst his teacher was facing his accusers, whilst his leader was being sentenced to death he had been swearing that he didn’t even know him. He had been frightened, he had been scared but still he couldn’t believe he’d done it. He had thought he would do anything for this man. He had thought that he would willingly die for him but when a girl suggested he was one of his followers he had crumbled and said over and over again that he didn’t even know him! As he pictured each time he’d said he didn’t know him it hit him like a punch in the face. It would be easy to say that he’d panicked. It would be easy to say that he had no choice. But as he looked back he couldn’t deny that he knew exactly what he was doing, that he did it out of fear and that he definitely did have a choice!

It was almost too painful to remember but as the day unfolded the pain only became more and more real. The day itself was a bit of a blur and it seemed that confusion was widespread. But he remembers watching as his friend went from place to place being questioned and he remembers that before he’d really known what was going on the sentence was past and the verdict was death. He remembers a numb disbelief as he watched his friend carry his cross up to the hill. He remembers the despair and pain that swept over him as he saw the nails hammered in and he remembers the fearful hopelessness which swept over him as he saw his friend being taken away to be buried.

He didn’t know what to do. Who knew what would happen next. Would the authorities come looking for him? Were they going to round up his followers and kill them too? What was he to do? He’d never thought of what he’d do when he stopped following this leader. He’d always assumed it was a permanent position but now what? He’d never even considered that it might end and certainly not like this! Somehow he’d decided to come to this room knowing it would be empty and hoping it would be safe.

So there he sat alone with his thoughts. Anger washed over him as he thought of the injustice of it all. Anger at the guards, anger at courts, anger at the executioner, anger at God even anger at his friend. How could he die? How could this happen? But even stronger than the anger was the shame and guilt which seemed to be suffocating him. How could he have been so weak? How could he have been such a terrible friend? Why hadn’t he stood up and been counted? He thought he was better than that and yet when it had come down to it he had abandoned his friend to face his fate alone. As the day ended and reality sank in hopelessness overtook him. His life, his future, his identity and his hope had all been bound up with this man but now he was dead and the dream was over. Sat alone in this room he quickly found himself to be looking at a future with no meaning. He found himself questioning his identity. What sort of a man was he if he could deny his friend so easily and so completely? He found himself searching for hope but finding none and he even found himself looking at life and wondering if there was any point to it anymore! Now that Jesus was dead he was nothing more than a guy called Peter sat in a room in Jerusalem wondering what on earth he should, or even could, do next!

Making decisions

2010-03-23T09:52:00.001-07:00

O.K. so maybe I'm obsessed about making decisions or something but I have been thinking a bit about this and I reckon there are three basic ways we make decisions in our life.

Active decision making - The first way what I call active decision making. This is the thing we do throughout our life of picking between different options based on the perceived merits of each. So this includes decisions like...

PC or Mac

Call of Duty or Bad Company 2

Going to university or getting a job

Moving to Oxford or Moving to Cambridge

Taking one Job or taking another

Getting married or staying single

Eating cereal for breakfast or eating toast

This is the way we normally think about decision making. We normally think of the vast array of things we decide on throughout our life. The specific examples will change but we all make many decisions like this.

Decision making by neglect - So the second way we make decisions is what I call decision making by neglect. This is all the decisions we make because we never even think of them as options. This includes decisions such as...

Deciding not to kill someone today

Deciding not to take up pilates

Deciding not to get a job as a professional plate juggler

Deciding not to paint my house orange

Now the individual examples may not apply to you (or me) but what I am talking about here is that whole host of things which we never decide to do because we actually never think about them or consider them as options. It's not that we make a conscious decision to not do these things it's just that by never thinking about them we decide not to do them.

Decision making by default - The third way we make decisions is what I call decision making by default. This represents all those things which we never decide either to do or not to do but which our lives decide for us. This includes decisions such as...

Getting fat - You don't sit there and decide I am going to get fat but by each day eating more than you should practically you have made that decision

Not going to lectures - You may not decide you're not going to go to tomorrow's lecture but by staying up until 6:00AM practically you have made that decision

Now it strikes me that when it comes to becoming a Christian or not many people make this decision either by neglect or by default, That is to say that many people go through their lives without ever thinking about whether they are going to become a Christian or not. They therefore make the decision not to by neglect. Others go through their life never mixing with Christians, never going to church, never reading the Bible, never finding out about Christianity and therefore although they would describe themselves as open to Christianity their lifestyle makes the decision not to become a Christian by default.

Jesus says that he came to divide people and the division he makes is based on what people make of him. Let me encourage you to make an active decision about Jesus rather than making it by neglect or default!

What should I do

2010-03-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

I feel like my life is absolutely full of this question. I ask myself again and again what I should do.

So I wake up on a Monday morning and I ask myself the very basic question what should I do today. I get into difficult situations and I ask myself what I should do about them. I think about my future, my career, my year, my time and am constantly asking myself what I should do.

Not only do I ask myself this question all the time I am often asked it by other people. People with a whole host of decisions (about careers or where to live or what to do or how to make things better) all asking the same question 'What should I do?'

Now what has struck me about this is that we ask ourselves this question in the specific but too often fail to ask it in the general. By this I mean that when it comes to specific decisions (about time, money, locations, careers, relationships etc) we are obsessed with asking ourselves what we should do but when it comes to the big question of what should I do with my life we fail to ever ask this question.

It seems to me that most of us live our lives on a sort of firefighting basis so we hit a decision we need to make and then fret about what we should do without ever taking the time to think about what we should be doing with our life as a whole. However, if we asked ourselves what we should be doing with our lives more often I wonder if we would find it easier to think about the specifics.

I have been challenged recently by the parable of the talents (Matthew 15v14-30) to ask myself the question 'What should I be doing with my life?' more often. We are so often too busy fighting the current fire to ever stop and think about this but how do we hope to fight the fires and what do we expect to get out of life if we never ask ourselves what we should get out of. The Bible promises me that life is for getting to know God so as I think about what that means for my life hopefully I will become better at answering the smaller questions.

I should be getting to know and glorifying God through my life what should you be doing with yours?

Ugly things

2010-03-01T04:38:00.000-08:00

The other day I was listening to a Ben Folds song (yes I am not going to try to deny it I like Ben Folds) and I was struck by one of the lines. He sings this,

'Alice, the world is full of ugly things that you can't change

Pretend it's not that way

It's my idea of faith'

As a Christian I live by faith. However, the problem I have when I say this is that most people's idea of faith is this head in the sand mentality. People think that when I say that I live by faith what I mean is that I spend my life believing something which is frankly unbelievable. The thing is that this is not how I understand faith. When I say that I have faith in God and his revelation in the Bible it means that because of what God has already done (as recorded in the Bible) I have confidence that he will go on to do what he has promised. We all exercise faith in some things and the trick of life is to try to have faith in things which won't disappoint. I have faith in God because I believe he is the most trustworthy person in the universe.

The other thing these lyrics got me thinking about though was the ugly things in the world which I can't change. I read an article last week by the one and only Richard Dawkins in which he said that Christians were obsessed by suffering. Now whilst I disagree with this assumption I would like to say that in a world which is full of ugly things which you can't change you either have to face up to them or live life pretending that it's not like that. Christianity faces up to and tries to deal with suffering when most people (myself included at times) simply pretend it's not that way.

Sadly the world is full of ugly things that you can't change and I don't have sufficient 'faith' to simply pretend it's not that way.

Looking Back

2010-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

It strikes me that we all too easily forget. For many of us looking back is too painful and so we don't bother for others of us we are just too busy to find the time. However, looking back is essential. Christianity is built upon having faith in Jesus and if we are to have faith in him we need to look back to his actions and allow those things to give us confidence that he is worth us putting our faith in!

In the Old Testament we have many examples of people struggling to keep on trusting in God but finding the strength needed to do so by looking back. The book of Habakkuk provides a great example of this.

Habakkuk is stuck in a world which is full of injustice, evil and violence and he finds himself crying out to God asking him how he can allow such evil to go on? Habakkuk lives through a time of incredible evil in his own land followed by a brutal invasion and occupation by the Babylonians. He finds himself struggling to believe that God can just sit back and allow such evil to happen.

It is only by looking back to God's incredible rescue of his people in the exodus that he is able to once again trust that God is truly loving and will bring about salvation. You can read this in Habakkuk 3.

In the same way if we are to keep trusting God in this unjust, evil and violent world we must look at his past record and allow that to show us why he is worth trusting. We don't look back to the exodus but rather we look back to Jesus. In an attempt to help me look back to Jesus and remind myself why he is worth me having faith in here is my attempt to do a New t

Testament version of Habakkuk 3. I am no poet but it helped me none the less.

'God came from Bethlehem and God’s son from Nazareth. Angels declared his splendour and shepherds and wise men were full of his praise. His perfection was there for all to see and his wisdom for all to hear. He came in humility and he brought in gentleness. Love went before him and forgiveness followed at his heels. He prayed and he fed thousands; he spoke and he stilled the sea. He reached out and he cleansed the lepers; He prayed and he raised the dead. Yet I see your anointed one in anguish; I see him crying out to God in pain. I see him despised, forsaken and rejected; I see him giving up his spirit to death. Was your wrath against your son, O LORD? Was your anger against your anointed one? You stripped your sheath from your bow calling for many arrows, darkness fell, the mountains again shook as your son faced your fury. Yet he suffered this for the salvation of your people. He crushed the prince of demons and turned Satan’s own schemes against him. He triumphed over all wickedness and now rejoices at his victory.

I hear and my body should tremble and my lips should fail at the thought. I will quietly wait for Jesus to bring salvation to all his people and to return again in power.'

Christianity for the Lazy

2010-02-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

The other week I was at a secondary school in Hartlepool and was trying to explain what I see the difference between Christianity and all other religions. Now the group is made up of mainly year 11 lads and so often I don't really feel like much goes in. I was attempting to explain that what all religions seem to teach is that we need to do certain things in order to make God like us. So we have to go to certain places, do certain things, obey certain rules, participate in different ceremonies and if we do enough of the right things God will like us and go into heaven. Religions are built on the idea that if we do enough of the right things we can make ourselves good enough for God. I then went on to explain that the Bible teaches us something quite different. The Bible says that even our best efforts are like filthy rags to God and that actually the only way for us to be good enough for God is by him doing something for us rather than us doing something for him. I ended by saying that I don't consider myself to be religious because I don't believe I have to do certain things to make me good enough for God, rather I believe that God came to earth in the person of Jesus, died on a cross to pay the price for my sin so that anyone who believes in him will be accepted by God.

At the end of this one of the guys turned to me and said 'So basically you believe in Christianity for the lazy'. Now although I don't think this is completely accurate I was pretty happy about this because it means that at least he was listening and that he's grasped the central idea that Christianity is not about us trying harder but rather about a gift we don't deserve from God.

It is only by understanding and believing that we become inspired and empowered to live for God!

Christianity v My social life

2010-01-26T08:26:00.001-08:00

As I live my life and I see other people living their's I can't help but think that most people see any decision about whether they should become a Christian as a decision about what is worth more to them, Christianity or their social life. This is true whether you are a Christian or not.

If you are not a Christian then you may decide that Christianity is not for you because it would ruin your social life.

Alternatively if you are a Christian you might to decide not to obey Jesus' teaching because your social life is worth more to you than Jesus.

At the heart of many people's social life in our society is a substance called alcohol. A brief tour of people's status's on facebook will demonstrate the accuracy of this statement. Therefore many people's objection to Christianity when all is said and done is as simple as this - 'The Bible says don't get drunk. I like getting drunk. Therefore I'm not going to become a Christian' For many people life without the heavy nights out/in is so unimaginable that they will not even consider giving it up to give Christianity a go.

In an attempt to fight against this I want to give you 4 reasons why I think the Bible is against getting drunk and just see if it makes any sense.

1. Getting drunk can lead to doing things you regret - Anyone who has been drunk knows that this is true. The Bible says that God gives you life and holds you responsible for what you do with it. Being drunk is therefore condemned because it robs you of self control and leads you to doing things you would not ordinarily do.

2. Getting drunk can lead to hurting other people - Just look at the figures of crimes associated with alcohol abuse and tell me that I'm wrong. Alternatively look at your past and see how many people you said unkind things to, said unkind things about, fallen out with or hurt someone in some way because you were drunk. God says we should love other people like we love ourselves and being drunk does not help us do this!

3. Getting drunk is an abuse of your body - I don't mean this in any super pious way I simply mean that generally throwing up is your body's way of telling you that it would rather you didn't put so much alcohol into it.

4. Getting drunk is too often a form of escapism - My worry about getting drunk is that as I talk to people they use it as a way to escape from life. They spend Monday and Tuesday looking back at their drunken weekend and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looking forward to their next drunken weekend. So many people seem to find life hard and unsatisfying and use alcohol abuse as a way to escape. The problem with this is that God gave us life for the living. Surely it would be better to find a way to find joy and meaning in the whole of life rather than simply finding ways to escape it for a while!

Now I am aware that as soon as I blog on something like getting drunk many people who previously have had no problems with my blog will feel that I have gone too far. After all it's fine to say anything but just don't tell me not to get drunk. Others of you who have had the pleasure of seeing me drunk will think 'what a hypocrite' but of course Christianity is not about whether you get drunk or not. Christianity is about confessing to God that I have done things I shouldn't have; I have hurt other people, I have abused the body God gave me and I have used alcohol to escape from the life he gave me to live, and then finding forgiveness in Jesus dying on the cross to take all the punishment I deserve for that.

Christianity is not about whether you get drunk or not but I worry that too many people trade in their chance to get to know the God who created everything and who loves them more than they can imagine for a night out on the town. I'm a miserable drunk but however good that night out is for you I am pretty confident that trading forever on a perfect world with God for it is a bad trade!

Using our gifts

2010-01-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

Often we act as if pleasure is to be found in those times we don't have to do 'work'. However, it strikes me that actually there are few things more enjoyable than finding something you can do well and then doing it. So for example most people who enjoy pub quizzes are coincidentally those people who are good at it, most people enjoy the sports they are good at more than those they are not, most people who are really into playing music and getting better at it are those with some natural aptitude, basically we enjoy doing things we are good at.

The Bible says that this is the way we were created. God created us with different gifts (to be good at different things) and he created us to enjoy using those gifts. Even if we were perfect there would still be stuff for us to do and so our satisfaction and pleasure is not to be found in doing nothing but rather in doing the work God has prepared us to do.

I have become aware that all too often I try to avoid doing the work God has given me to do believing that doing nothing will bring me more pleasure it doesn't. However, all too often the work we do doesn't bring pleasure either. Now all work will at times be difficult and unenjoyable but often I wonder if this is the case more often than strictly necessary because we haven't taken the time to think about what gifts God has given us to use.

At our church we are going to run a course to help us all identify what gifts God has given us and how we can use them. The temptation is to think that this course is one to be avoided because identifying gifts sounds scary and because at the end of it we'll only end up doing more stuff and therefore having a worse life. I need to remind myself that the use of these gifts will not lead to a worse life because God made us with gifts and that using these gifts is the very thing God created us for. I hope I find that I've got some good gifts and that I can find myself ways to use them for God's glory, other people's benefit and my enjoyment!

Good days and bad

2010-01-11T02:52:00.000-08:00

I have read a lot recently about how we understand, need and appreciate the gospel in our lives depending on whether we feel we have had good days or bad days. The basic argument goes something like this.

When you have had a bad day - So when you have ignored God, lived for yourself, done things wrong, failed people maybe even hurt people then it is easy to think that we are far away from God and that he must be rejecting us. However, this is not true because Christianity is not about us being good enough for God but rather about Jesus dying on the cross so that we can be forgiven for all that bad stuff. So the bad day actually has no bearing on our status before God because our status before God is all about Jesus not about the levels we attain.

On the flip side when we have had a good day - So when we feel we have managed to stay focused on God, when we have lived for him and for other people, when we have served people and helped them it's easy to think that we are closer to God and that he must accept us now. However, again this is way off because we are never good enough to hit the perfect standard of a perfect God and so our status before God is again all about what Jesus has done rather than how good we have been.

Now it is worth me saying that I consider this to be absolutely true and essential to anyone's understanding of what it means to be a Christian and on how we can come into a real relationship with God. However, I just want to look at it another way.

Whilst good days and bad days are not the determining factor when it comes to my relationship with God they do matter. You see what arguments like this are doing is looking at all from God's point of view and how he relates to us. However, if we for a minute look at it from our point of view I think we can make a distinction. Let me explain.

Good days - If by a good day we mean living the way that God intended then the way you feel about life and your day will and should be different if you have had a good day to if you have had a bad day. So for example on Thursday when I managed to study God's word deeply, to talk to God honestly, to serve God at youth work and to relate to people according to the grace God has shown me I felt better about the day, I worshipped God better and I enjoyed my life and the things God has given me more.

Bad days - If by a bad day we mean living in way contrary to that God intended then the way you feel about life and your day should surely be different from that enjoyed in a good day. So for example on Wednesday I didn't manage to relate to people well, I didn't talk with God honestly, I didn't study God's word deeply and I didn't serve God well and the way I felt about that day was worse because of that. I did not enjoy the day as much, I didn't have the same satisfaction out of it, I worshipped God worse and I felt worse about that day.

So whilst good and bad days might have no bearing on our status before God they do have an impact on our ability to enjoy and find satisfaction in the lives God has given us. If God really exists, if he really made this world and if the Bible is his revelation to people then living his way must lead to a better life than living opposed to it. My experience tells me that there is a difference between good days and bad days even if God, in his incredible grace, decides to see no distinction and love me regardless!

Avatar

2010-01-06T08:09:00.001-08:00

Well hello again everyone. I guess it is about time life went back to some semblance of normality after Christmas even though we're still suffering from some slightly fresh weather.

This afternoon I went to see Avatar and so I thought I'd share two thoughts I had!

1. Isn't it amazing how the blue creatures never do anything wrong. You never see anyone act selfishly or destructively they really are just good. This makes you as the audience instantly root for them and it seems to make them enjoy a much better level of existence to the humans. It's interesting that we can recognise that living a certain way leads to a better life in films but we fail to believe it when it comes to living our own lives!

2. How come whenever anyone believes in God or anything beyond the simply materialistic they have to be portrayed as in some ways primitive. So the blue things believe in a spiritual realm but they also fight with spears, wear little or no clothes, don't seem into technology and do some fairly weird chanting and shaking sort of stuff. I have to say that this sort of portrayal does somewhat do my head in

As I was watching Avatar and soaking up the special effects I couldn't help but wish that humanity was just slightly better than we are! Fortunately the Bible says that we can be and that one day humanity and the world will be!

Christmas

2009-12-23T04:23:00.000-08:00

Isn't Christmas time amazing. Granted it's quite busy for people in my profession but having done the Carol service on Sunday I can now look forward to a week with virtually nothing to prepare. A week where I have some time off work just time to do that stuff I never normally have time for. As a Christian the good thing about this is that specifically this gives us time away from our normal pressures to focus on God coming to earth as a human being and all that means for us!

The problem is that as soon as I get given all of this time I proceed to waste it. In part I get carried away by the socialising, present buying and all that associated with it but generally I just find myself drifting from one thing to another without really thinking about how I'm using my time. So rather that talking to God more, reading my Bible more, serving better during this time I end up doing it worse as a result of some time given me specifically for this reason!

I want to enjoy my Christmas time but the temptation is always to think time off work equals time off God. The problem is that this sort of attitude pretty much scuppers any hope I have of enjoying Christmas time! I hope I use Christmas a bit better this year!

Why buses come in threes

2009-12-22T02:29:00.001-08:00

Driving along the road the other day I realised why buses do come in threes and thought I would share this. As it is so obvious I'm not sure if I am here demonstrating my incredible perception or my ignorance at only just realising this.

As a bus pulls into a bus stop just before me I pull out and go round it as do all the other cars. The problem is that when a bus comes up to this it can't get passed and so we now have two buses in convoy. Observing this occur made me realise why buses all come together and that it wasn't just to spite and irritate the person who has been sat in the bus stop for half an hour waiting for any bus!

Anyway I thought I'd share!

Why I should be joyful

2009-12-15T01:18:00.001-08:00

On Sunday evening I was looking at Luke 2v22-38 and it struck me that the people who met Jesus as a baby were all full of joy! So Mary was full of joy and the wise men were full of joy and Anna and Simeon were full of joy. There was a whole lot of joy knocking around. However, this joy was not like the joy which we enjoy at Christmas time. You see I have nothing against Christmas and positively enjoy it however, the joy we feel at Christmas is a completely manufactured joy! So we do certain things so that when the 25th December comes we will experience some joy. So we arrange parties, listen to certain music, get with friends and family, give and receive gifts, eat certain food etc all so that we can feel joy. You see basically we decide we want to have a good and exciting day and so put things in place to make it happen. This is very different to the natural joy which comes out of something good happening. This is a very different sort of joy to that enjoyed when we pass an exam or get married or have a kid or win the lottery. You see here something has happened which you cannot help but be joyful about. You don't have to put things in place to make you joyful the event itself is a joyful one!

Now because we can't go back to the actual joy when Jesus was born and experience the genuine joy many people seem to have felt on that day the joy around Christmas can seem a bit fake. However, as a Christian surely I should be as joyful as these people about Jesus coming to earth. So let me end with a few reasons why I should be joyful about Jesus coming to earth.

1. By coming to earth Jesus rescued me. The thought of being rescued from a seemingly impossible situation is a powerful one. I can easily imagine the joy I would feel if someone amazingly rescued me from impending death. By coming to earth Jesus rescued me from sin and the judgement that sin deserves.

2. By coming to earth Jesus brought me out of one kingdom and into another. Without Jesus I am a member of the kingdom of darkness. By that I mean that I cannot stop doing bad things and am living a life opposed to God. By coming to earth Jesus moves me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. By that I mean that he gives me his Holy Spirit so that I start resisting sin and brings me into a relationship with God.

3. By coming to earth Jesus showed me God. Imagine the joy you'd feel if you actually met God. All that doubting gone, all that speculation over. Imagine actually seeing what God was like and experiencing his power, his perfection, his love! Well Jesus is the revelation of God and so by coming to earth Jesus makes it possible for me to see God.

4. By coming to earth Jesus reveals the thoughts of my heart. When Jesus came to earth he said certain things and did certain things which are so incredible that they enable me to see my heart, to understand it better and to recognise my failings better. As I get to know Jesus I actually get to know Jesus better.

The truth of it is that I either don't believe this or I forget it because I am not nearly as joyful about those things as I should be! I shouldn't need a dead bird, some cheesy songs, a pile of presents and some wild parties to make me feel joy. No I should be constantly experiencing a joy which comes out of the amazing things Jesus has done for me!

Why will people not go to church?

2009-12-07T09:00:00.001-08:00

O.k. so that is the question but what is the answer. You will find no shortage of theories about this and I guess there will have been a number of blogs on it in the past and will be many more in the future. However, working for a church and dealing with loads of people on a weekly basis it does often baffle me why it's so hard to get people into church. In a culture where people are up for trying anything how come no matter how many invites I put out at the various groups we do as a church there are still so many people who are unwilling to just come along on a Sunday and have a look? I mean they're happy enough coming to whatever it is they come to (Elmer's Patch, Hot Potatoes, Kids' Cafe etc) and they seem to know the people from the church a little bit, at times they even seem to quite like us. So why not try out church on a Sunday?

I have no answers to this apart from a growing realisation of how weird a church service is for people who are not used to going to them. For a start there's singing and I mean singing with music. If you're not used to going to church there's a good chance you never sing and haven't for many years. You feel like an idiot if you join in the singing and you feel like an idiot if you don't. Then churches tend to talk about things which people never talk about. For example churches talk about love a lot and the average person never talks about love and is a bit uncomfortable with the way the word id thrown around in church. The listening to a guy speak for 30 minutes. When do you ever do that? Apart from university and church I'm not sure I've ever sat and listened to a person speak for that long!

I get some sense of this when I got to other churches and I feel out of place. I don't know the songs, I don't know the format, I don't know the people and I don't connect with the person talking. I just feel uncomfortable. However, I guess my reason for writing this blog is to try to get one thing straight in my head and that is - 'Church is always going to be like this!'. You see if church was just a meeting then we could make church not like this. We could work out the things which make people comfortable and which people connect with we could try to put those things in place until we finally create a meeting which people can attend with complete comfort. The thing is that church is not a meeting but a community and it takes time to become part of a community. Until you become a part of that community yourself you will always be on the outside looking in and feeling slightly uncomfortable.

So my desire should not be for people to simply go to a church meeting but rather to have a look at the community, see if what they declare with their mouths is real and then enter the community. So come to church - not because you'll feel comfortable but because it's by seeing the community that you can examine whether what we say actually has anything to offer!

Hypocrisy

2009-12-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

So on Sunday we were talking about hypocrisy and it struck me just what a widespread problem it is. Everyone loves to put on a public face and most of us have become quite expert at doing it. Most of us want to be someone other than who we are and so it is only natural that we project the person we want to be rather than the person that we are!

However, perhaps what struck me even more than the widespread nature of the problem was the destructiveness of it! How can we hope to build real, supportive, honest and lasting relationships for as long as we are pretending to be something that we are not. How can I hope for people to help me get through the various doubts I have if I am always presenting myself as not having any? How can I hope to enjoy loving relationships with other people when despite talking about wanting them I actually have no desire to pursue them. Honesty is a key part of community and so our community's suffer because no-one is actually willing to be honest about who they are. We talk about wanting to follow God, we talk about loving people, we talk about serving God but then our lives call us liars. We need to have lives which measure up to our words if we are ever to build the sort of relationships we not only want but need!

Many of us have taken years creating this public face and getting people to see us a certain way and so are not only loath to destroy it we also don't know how to do anything different. It's one thing to know that we need to be honest and real with people but it's another thing to know how to do it. Some people don't know how to do it and so never build deep relationships other people don't know how to do it and so make everything into a drama in an attempt to connect in some way! I shall endeavour to be as real with people as I can but I think it's going to be a long process and I might need some help along the way!

Doing the Washing up

2009-11-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

O.K. so yesterday I went round to a friends house and we were chatting about a variety of things. Before I left I suggested that he prayed about some of the things we'd been talking about. His prayers are the most informal I think I've ever heard which is very refreshing, however, in the middle of his prayer I was shocked to hear him pray something along the lines of 'Please help Ben to do the washing up'. Possibly the funniest and strangest thing that I've been prayed for in a long time.

However, on reflection I can't help but feel glad that some people still pray about things that matter. My prayers are so often dominated by things I want to see happen or stuff I want to see God doing without prayers about God actually changing me and those around me so that we are nicer people who actually care for those around us. After all isn't this guy's prayer just a specific version of Paul's prayer 'that your love may abound more and more'?

I do pray that God would be changing me and those around me in real and practical ways so that we become more like the people he wants us to be! So to the washing up bowl I go and pray that God would be working in me and those people around me so that we all become more committed to other people's good than our own comfort!

Muling

2009-11-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

This blog is called reflections of a mule.

The word mule was a word we used at university for someone who does nothing or wastes time (no insult meant to the mule species who I'm sure are very active and industrious). The word muling was therefore all too often used (to my shame) to describe what our plans for the day were or what we were doing at any given time.

The question remains what does a mule think about? What are the reflections of a mule? I thought I would share some with you.

1. Football formations. Be this inspired by the team I play for, the team I support or the computer team I manage (o.k. so I am currently playing football manager) I spend a decent amount of time thinking about this.

2. What I'm going to eat. I spend a fair amount of time each day thinking about when my next meal is and what it's going to be. It's just too much fun.

3. Computer Games. What I need to do or could do in order to win/succeed at whatever computer game I am into at the time.

4. Things I need to do. I spend a lot of time trying to think about all the things I need to do in order to try to ensure that I can do them.

It is hardly surprising that with all these things floating round my head I rarely think about anything useful and I often feel like God is absent from my thoughts and therefore life. Someone said to me maybe if I stopped filling my time (or perhaps more importantly my mind) with things such as computer games maybe I would enjoy the better relationship with God I so want.

What can church do for me?

2009-11-16T02:21:00.001-08:00

I have often suggested that this sort of question is the wrong sort of question to ask about church. After all if a church is not simply a club you join but actually a new family you become a part of then it is not all about what it can do for you. In a family it is not only about what the family does for you but also what your responsibilities within the family are. In the same way we don't want to have a consumerist approach to church where it's all about what I get rather that what I give and how I can serve.

However, having said all of that I do think that asking the question how can church help me is a great question to ask. My worry is that is we never ask what church can do for me then church attendance becomes something we do out of habit, tradition or simply to make us feel better rather than something we expect God to use to develop us into the people he intended us to be! So we keep going to meeting without ever really thinking how God can use it to change us or expecting him to use it to change us!

Last week at church I encouraged people to ask the question 'How can church help me to know God better?' I long to know God better and I believe that God can use not only his Bible and his Spirit but also the body of believers to help me do this. I'd encourage everyone to ask themselves this question, think about it and then sit down with someone from the church to talk about how we can make it happen. I'm sure that anyone from the church would be excited and encouraged by a conversation like this.

So I've spent some time thinking about this and here are a few things church could do to help me know God better.

1. Ask me how I'm getting on. I'd love people to ask me how I'm getting on with God at the moment. What I'm reading in the Bible at the moment? How am I praying? How are my relationships with other Christians. I know conversations like this are hard but in my experience God uses these to help me connect with him.

2. Live the gospel in our relationships. The church would help me know God better if in the way we related to each other we demonstrated our love of, and commitment to, the gospel. As relationships within the church show that we think that sin is serious and a terrible thing but that forgiveness is wonderful and freely available, I get to see God and know him better.

3. Talking about the Bible. I love talking about the Bible. I love working to understand it and chatting about what it means for us and whether it makes any difference. I, therefore love opportunities to discuss God's word with other people. By giving me opportunities to do this both formally (in meetings) and informally (in conversations) the church would help me to know God better.

There's a few thoughts from me. I shall continue to think as God continues to use his people to help me know him better!

If it makes you happy...

2009-11-10T01:41:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up I remember a song being played on the radio which had the following very memorable words

'If it makes you happy,

Then why the hell are you so sa a a d'

Every now and again those words come back to haunt me. Every now and again when I have a day off and I spend it doing exactly what I want, these words seem ever so appropriate. Maybe it's the catchiness of the tune, maybe it was the fact that they were repeated ad tedium that makes them stick in my head but having not heard the song for years they are still there. How can I spend a day just doing what I choose to do and at the end of it still not feel happy?

It strikes me that I am not alone in this. I find a lot of people unable to do things to make themselves happy despite having that as their primary focus. So many people's primary focus is making themselves happy and yet they fail to even achieve this.

Jesus said that he came to bring a new full life for people. The kind of life which only flows out of right relationship with God. However, some days my decisions show me that I prefer my old empty life to the new full one which Jesus offers! It frustrates me no end when I see people unwilling to give Christianity a go because they're not willing to give up a life which doesn't even make them happy. However, every now and again, I spend whole days doing exactly the same!

I need God to continue to transform my heart, soul and mind because I have become a consummate pro when it comes to deceiving myself!

How can you believe God's in control?

2009-11-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

When you look around the world it at times seems out of control. I mean I'm no economist but it seems bizarre that mankind creates something called money which then manages to get so out of control that we become a victim to the very thing we created. As if we cannot even control a system which we created. However, as the recession has shown many people have become victims of the forces of economics.

Then the Bible asks us to believe that in this chaotic world God is the ultimate ruler. The Bible tells us that everything in creation is subject to him and so when all around us seems to be in turmoil we're still meant to believe that God is ultimately in control. The world doesn't look much like it subject to God. It looks like it is going it's own way. Much of the world doesn't even believe in God never mind feel subject to him. How can we believe that in a world which is so chaotic, in a society where so many people are going there own way and rejecting God, that everything really is under God's rule.

I read these words today in the Bible

'As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus - made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God's grace He might taste death for everyone - crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death.'

Here's the answer to that question. We believe the world is subject to God because we see Jesus dying on a cross to take the punishment our sins deserve. Those verses clearly say what I feel which is that everything doesn't seem subject to him. However, they go on to say that we can believe that this is the case because we can look to Jesus. You see God doesn't say 'I know it doesn't look much like I'm in control but just believe that I am despite the evidence.' No God says 'I know it doesn't look much like everything's subject to me but remember Jesus. Remember that Jesus came to earth and did things which no-one else can do. Remember that he died for your sins and as you remember that allow the thing which is undeniable (Jesus life and death) to convince you that this thing which seems deniable (that I'm making everything subject to me) is true.'

People tend to think that Christianity is about bullying yourself to believe something which is unlikely. However, what God says is that there was a person called Jesus who lived, did inexplicable stuff and died for you. As you have seen me working there now trust me in the places where you currently can't see me working.

So we don't see and understand everything. But we do see Jesus and in that God has surely given us enough evidence for us to trust him with those things we don't see and don't understand!

How could God write the Bible?

2009-11-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I was doing a Holiday Club for primary school aged children in Accrington. During the first day of this I was trying to explain that the Bible is not just a book written by a few insightful people a few thousand years ago but that it's actually God's means of communicating with people. I was explaining that the Bible is God's book, written by him which records his dealings with humanity throughout history.

After doing this, quite expertly and clearly I thought, one of the children put their hand up and asked me the following question...

'How could God have written the Bible if he's dead?'

Now needless to say I was a bit taken aback by this question. I hadn't really envisaged having a follower of Neitzsche in this group. So I responded by saying that the Bible doesn't really say that God is dead, in fact it says that he's alive. The girl responds by saying

'I know he's sort of alive but he's also a little bit dead.'

Now after this clarification I was obviously fine.

Whilst this ended up a quite humorous, and very interesting discussion it did get me to start thinking. I guess many people's problem with the idea of God doing stuff is that he seems a bit dead. You see for us life is so bound up in the physical and as God is not currently physically in front of us then the idea of him being alive and doing stuff seems bizarre.

The strange thing is that the Bible says that the exact opposite thing is true. It's not that God is a little bit dead but rather it's that we're a little bit dead. We're alive physically but spiritually we're dead and so we are incapable of recognising spiritual life. This means that God seems a little bit dead when actually he is more alive than we can possibly imagine. However, humanity has always been better at seeing the problem in someone else rather than considering that it might simply be that we don't see and understand everything completely!

Dealing with Criticism

2009-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Generally I tend to think that I am right. If I am not acting idiotically (which I do sometimes), then I would not be doing or saying something if I didn't think I was right. The problem is that I am not always right. I know this because I know that no-one is always right. When I look at other people I can spot their blind spots however, the very definition of a blind spot means that I cannot see my own.
Criticism, rebuke and correction are therefore essential. They can do things which I myself am incapable of doing. It is essential that my life is full of these things as without them I will remain right in my own eyes but wrong in everyone else's. If I am truly reading and engaging with the Bible then criticism, rebuke and correction can come from there. However, often God uses people to do this work and to help us grow in godliness. This unfortunately leads to a few uncomfortable conclusions.
1. I need to repent of my pride and my unwillingness to hear criticism. I tend to respond very badly to criticism even when it is about something completely unimportant. So someone criticises the volume of music or the way I set out chairs or anything completely unimportant like that and I immediately find myself bristling. If I respond so badly to insignificant criticism what chance do I have of God using criticism to change my heart.
2. I need to build relationships in which criticism, rebuke and correction are the norm. It is difficult to build relationships where these things are just part and parcel of them but I need them and so need to invest in relationships so that this can occur. I am rubbish at dealing with this but maybe if it was more normal and natural I would be better?
3. I need to be willing to criticise, rebuke and correct. I need to do this in love but I do need to do it. If I need it then so do other people and to not do it is to not care for the person enough to help them grow. It's one thing to resolve to deal with it better but it seems a much more daunting thing to resolve to be better at doing it. But if we don't we are not helping people to identify and deal with the blind spots they inevitably have.
So I may hate criticism but I need it and need to learn to value it better!

Practically it makes a whole load of difference...

2009-10-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

O.K. so as Sarah and I continue to work our way through House it is inevitable that in an ideas led hospital drama the issue of abortion is never going to be too far away and sure enough we've just watched a couple of episodes dealing with the moral arguments for and against abortion.

At one point House presents the following argument to a patient he's trying to convince to have an abortion. He says that in the end we have to draw a line about abortion and that although people may quibble about trimesters ultimately the obvious line is birth. He then goes on to say this - Morally it doesn't really make much difference but practically it makes a whole load of difference.

That line has stuck with me all week because I think it's such a great summary. Ultimately lines are pretty arbitrary morally however practically where you draw the line is huge. I think what house was saying was that in practical terms aborting feels nothing like and very different to killing a baby - even though morally the only difference is time.

Now if I'm honest this has stayed with me not because of my views on abortion but because of what a brilliant summary it is of how most of us make many decisions. Let me explain.

Morally there is not much difference between downloading a film on the internet and stealing a dvd but practically there is the world of difference. Practically one feels worse than the other.

Morally there is not much difference between being lazy at work and stealing from the till but practically there is a whole load of difference.

Morally there isn't much difference between lying to someone and trying to deceive someone without actually lying but practically they feel different.

I know the temptation to do life like this is there because I tend to live life according to how it makes me feel. But surely life and morality shouldn't revolve around my feelings.

May God save us from expedient morality and help us to start doing things because they are right not simply because they don't feel wrong!

The key to obedience

2009-10-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

Having written on Monday about our inability to be motivated to obey Jesus' teaching and instruction by the fact that it is in our own best interest I then read these words from Psalm 119.

'Teach me, LORD, the meaning of your statutes, and I will always keep them.

Help me understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.

Help me stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it.'

Now whether you call this providence or merely coincidence I certainly found it striking that here I see the Bible giving its answer to my query. In the last sentence of this section the person who wrote it acknowledges what I know to be true, and articulated on Monday, that despite the fact that I take pleasure in obeying God I still can't do it and need God to help me do it.

However, what really struck me in this section is the correlation between being taught and obedience. You see I know that God's ways are best. I believe it to be true and I have in some ways experienced it. I therefore think that my lack of obedience is down to something other than knowledge. It's easy to think that I don't need to be taught any more rather I just need to become better at doing what it says.

However, the Bible doesn't seem to recognise my distinction. The Bible's verdict is that if I am still not keeping God's commands, if I'm not obeying, if I'm not following him with all my heart then what I need is not some new supernatural feeling, it's not simply to try harder, it's not to find a stronger motivation. No what I need is for God to teach me. What I need is to understand God's ways better. I might think that I know and understand them but if I truly did then I would obey them.

No wonder when I distance myself from my Bible, from fellowship with other Christians, from studying with other Christians and from hearing people faithfully explain and apply the Bible my obedience suffers.

If it makes you feel good...

2009-10-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

I have just been for a run (I hope you are all suitably impressed) which was at times difficult but overall relatively enjoyable. I know that running makes me feel good. People tell me that exercise releases dolphins into my blood which apparently swim around and make me feel happy. However, I don't base my knowledge that running makes me feel good solely on that but also on the fact that I know that if I exercise regularly I find the everyday struggle with emotions and moods to be somewhat easier.

However, despite the fact that I know running does me good and despite the fact that my experience tells me that running will make me feel better and make my life better I still often find it hard to motivate myself to get ready and go out to run. Sometimes the thought of having to go out and run makes me want to do nothing more than stay in bed or stay in front of the television.

In house groups we have been looking through John's gospel. I love John's gospel because John has the brilliant habit of explaining why he's writing what he's writing or including Jesus' reason for saying or doing what he is doing. So we see Jesus encouraging Christians to love and abide in him, to unite with each other and to listen to his words because by doing this they will experience joy, peace, love and fullness of life.

Yet again I not only know this to be true because Jesus says it's true but I know it to be true from experience. Although following Jesus can at times prove difficult I know that when I am abiding in him, when I am listening to him, when I am talking to him and loving his people I do experience that peace, joy and love that he offers. My life is fuller when I do what he says I should do than when I don't even though I have to wait until eternity for that absolutely full joy, peace, love and life!

However, still at times I don't do those things Jesus tells me to do even though I know they're to my benefit. Like going for a run, even though I know I'll feel better for doing them I still can't motivate myself to do it. I see many people like this in the world. I see many people in the church who have a similar problem. I see many people who are not enjoying the fullness of life Jesus offers because they're not doing the things Jesus told them to do in order to do so. The question is how do we ensure we do those things and enjoy the life Jesus offers?

Up until recently I have thought if I could just teach myself and others that the things Jesus tells us to do are actually for our benefit and make us feel good then we would suddenly start doing them. I thought that if I could just encourage others to taste and see that the LORD is good then I would see people becoming more and more committed to doing as Jesus commands and enjoying the life he offers. The problem is that it doesn't work. Like me and going for a run, sometimes knowing that it improves your quality of life is not enough to actually get you doing it. When we are fighting against our own laziness, our own selfishness and our own sinful nature no amount of knowledge and logic is capable of motivating us to live Jesus' way. It might motivate us temporarily. We might get 10 minutes or 10 days or even 10 weeks out of it but by itself it will not triumph. What we need is supernatural help.

So following Jesus might make you feel good but I'm going to stop relying on that to motivate me, and others, to live his way. No instead I'm going to pray that God would come into our hearts and motivate us because I'm fast learning that I'm incapable of motivating myself, never mind others, even when it's in my own best interest!

When the ideas run out

2009-10-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

In my short and undistinguished career I have done two jobs which have been quite ideas driven. So when I worked for Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community I was responsible for coming up with new and creative ways to teach young people a wide range of things using the football club as a hook. Over time I felt that many of my ideas became stale. Thinking of new and innovative ways to communicate became more and more difficult and constantly being expected to come up with new and whacky ideas I found somewhat exhausting.

My work for Browning Avenue Baptist Church at times feels very similar. The content is radically different but again at times I feel the same pressures. The pressure to think up new and innovative ways of communicating the gospel is at times inspiring and exciting but at other times stressful and depressing. What do you do when the ideas run out? I often feel like keeping interesting and original is just too difficult and I go back to the same stuff again and again.

I have no idea where this blog is going except that I need to remind myself that God is a creative God who created creative human beings and that God's work is not dependent on me having good enough ideas. At the football club my lessons were completely dependent on the ideas I had and my skill in delivering them however when it comes to the gospel, although I pray that God will use my ideas and gifts, ultimately his success does not rely on those things!

So I pray for good ideas and creativity but until they come I shall just have to get on with doing the work despite feeling uninspired and trust that God knows what he's doing!

When being rubbish is being good!

2009-10-15T02:08:00.001-07:00

We often bang on about how being a Christian is about having a relationship with God. I long to have this relationship with God. Being able to talk to the God who created and sustains the whole world is an incredible privilege and one there can be no doubt I do not make the most of. However, there can be no denying that talking to God is very different to talking to our friends. For a start he is very different to any friends we might have (how many friends do you have who are morally perfect and have the power to create the world with a word?) however, perhaps the biggest difference is that when I talk to a friend they normally respond audibly. When I pray to God the conversation often seems to be very one way. So we go on about it being a relationship often failing to recognise that it is completely different to any other relationship we will ever have.

It is difficult to maintain a conversation with someone when the communication so often seems to revolve around you talking. Over time your prayer's develop and with experience, thought and biblical study you sort of learn how to make this bizarre sort of conversation, this unique relationship work.

However, on Tuesday I went round to a guy from our church's house who's only been a Christian for a few months. At the end I asked him if he'd like to pray and he said that he would but that he was rubbish. So he prayed and it was in many ways nothing like how I pray. It was pretty unstructured and even the content was very different. However, I have to say it I found it the most amazing thing. Here was a guy who was genuinely just talking to God as he wanted to and saying the things he wanted to say to God.

I try my hardest to be as real as I can in my prayers however I inevitable carry into my prayers my own personality, my own theology, my own experiences and just a whole lot of other baggage. I found that sharing in someone who seemed to have so little baggage's prayer was an incredible blessing. I often think that when it comes to prayer the more rubbish they are the better they are.

My Christianity

2009-10-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we were looking at the religious nature of people's hearts. One of the aspects which really struck me was how we all tend to make religions which we can perform o.k. in. So we make the things which we consider to be virtues (whether they're down to a belief in the supernatural or just the sufficiency of man) things which we are good at.

As a Christian I was challenged at how often I do this and so here is my attempt to recognise that tendency in my life and identify some of the places it manifests itself.

In my Christianity...

...being self obsessed is better than being boring

...being unkind is better than being weird

...having a quiet time by yourself is better than doing it in a group

...being self controlled is better than being honest

...being irrationally committed to a new style of church is better than being irrationally committed to an old style

...being theologically sound is better than being loving

...speeding is better than under age drinking

...avoiding conflict is better than confronting sin

...talking about Jesus to non-Christians is better than talking about Jesus to Christians

...looking morally good is better than confessing to people and repenting

...being able to preach is better than being gentle

...being funny is better than being wise

In my Christianity I make the rules and I decide the priorities.

I am proud of you

2009-10-11T05:01:00.001-07:00

Sarah and I are currently watching through House (we're a bit behind on Series 3 but will soon have you series 5 addicts caught up!).

Last night we were watching an episode which dealt with the thorny issue of euthanasia (I notice there's a lot about this in films and on the television at the moment - The phrase hearts and minds springs to mind!)

As the three doctors debate about the ethics of ending this person's life who apparently wants to die there are a number of opinions. However, the episode ends with Cameron delivering a lethal injection and helping the patient to die. The episode ends with House telling Cameron he is proud of her for doing what she believed in.

Now whilst this sort of thing is commonly heard in our society I can't help but feel a it uncomfortable every time I hear it. After all Hitler was only doing what he believed in as were those people involved in the Crusades or the attack on the twin towers. It strikes me that doing what you believe in is not really something which either you or others should necessarily be proud of.

However, I guess if we are going to get rid of any sense of absolute morality all you can ask from anyone is for them to do what they believe in! Good job I believe in peace, love and the brotherhood of humanity or else who knows what I might do!

How many is enough?

2009-10-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

Working for a baptist church in Hartlepool is a weird thing. We work and work to tell people about Jesus and to get them to engage with God's teaching in the Bible and the salvation he offers everyone and yet on a good Sunday Morning we still have less that 100 people there and it still feels like the vast majority of people have little or no interest.

I so often find myself just wishing that as a church we were a bit bigger. I was talking yesterday to someone and found myself wishing that we just had another 100 people in the church. How encouraging it would be to have 100-200 people in the church rather than 0-100. How much easier it would be to organise things and then to do them.

However, this couldn't help but lead me to ask the question How many would be enough for me? You see if Hartlepool has 90 odd thousand people living in it then all that going from 100 to 200 would do is mean that there are 89800+ people we don't have contact with as opposed to 89900+. Would this be enough for me? I guess not. I guess I'd still want more. Even if we got mega church size and had 5000 people coming on a Sunday that would still leave 85000+ people who don't have anything to do with us.

I long for God to be working in Hartlepool. I long for his church to be growing here and I long for people to be saved but thinking about it I think I'd probably better leave the numbers to him!

My worst moments

2009-10-07T02:30:00.000-07:00

'Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.'

In my worst moments I do some terrible things. I say things with the sole intention of cutting and hurting other people. I put myself first so often at the expense of others. I remain indifferent to so many other people's trials and difficulties as long as I make my own life as easy as possible. Looking back on this week I can see how often I have spent my time doing what I want whilst leaving those things I don't want to do for my wife to do after a busy and stressful day at work. Looking back further than that I can still remember things I have done which have caused real damage. So I look back to times when I have been irrationally angry, when I have been spiteful, when I have been oppressive and I can look on people who I have been repeatedly unkind to.

Then I look to Jesus and I recognise that in terms of my relationship with him I have done some terrible things. For years I rejected him and went completely my own way. I repeatedly marginalise and sideline him. I often rebel against his ways and decide I am still going to go my own way. My love for Jesus at times feels insignificant or even non existent.

I am certainly not the person I should be!

But actually those things don't represent my worst moments. No, my worst moments are when I see myself like that and don't care. My worst moments are when I am lazy and waste my life and it doesn't bother me. My worst moments are when I don't give a monkeys that I am living completely for myself, that my focus is on making my life as easy as possible at the expense of everyone else (including the people I love most in the world). My worst moments are when I find myself dismissing people and having no time for them and I think that it's o.k. to be like that. My worst moments are when I find myself ignoring the God who loved me enough to die for me and I couldn't care less.

But in my best moments I feel that. My best moments are not when I don't do those things (they are not my best moments but rather my imaginary moments). No my best moments are when I look at my life and I feel just how badly I am living my life. In my best moments I am ashamed that I allow my wife to do all the housework when I've had an easier day than her. In my best moments I feel the pain that my words and actions have caused to so many people throughout my life. In my best moments I am traumatised that I ignore Jesus and fail to live for him. In my best moments I cannot believe I so often fail to love God, read my Bible, pray to him after he came to earth and suffered death and hell for me. In my best moments I recognise that if I was God I would be blisteringly angry with me or have given up on me altogether.

It is in these best moments that the words I put at the top mean so much to me. In my worst moments the promise of being without sin seems insignificant to me. But in my best moments it seems like the most wonderful thing. To no longer hurt people. To no longer rebel against God but to be free of that is such a wonderful promise which in my best moments I cannot wait for. Of course this is not the pipe dream of some hymn writer. No this is just what Paul writes in Romans 6v6-7

'For we know that our old self was crucified with him (Jesus) so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.'

In my worst moments this means nothing to me. But in my best moments I long to cling on to this promise now and so in Christ's strength I start resisting sin knowing that one day I will be free from it completely. The thought of being saved to sin no more not only spurs me on to fight sin now but it also gives me so much excitement as I look forward to the day when that salvation will be complete and I will not only sin a bit less but will be truly freed from it forever!