Something

'Dirt is Good'

2008-08-05T19:38:00.005+01:00

I've begun to describe following in the will of God like a really long walk and with that in mind I love the idea of 'desire lines' the off-pathway tracks people create in the countryside by wandering wherever they choose. This morning I was drawn by the sunshine and general autumn crispiness of everything to Debdale Park and in my walking and talking with God encountered an uncontrolable desire to head 'off road' right across the middle of a glistening leaf blown field - a prophetic, if tiny, statement about heading out onto new terrain.

So off I marched only to discover that the aforementioned glistening was not just the glory of the Lord but was in fact mud! In the middle of the field and up to my ankles in very cold mud I made a decision.

God likes mud, and actually getting stuck in it can be alot of fun - although it helps if you have dry socks with you. Make of this what you will, but for my part I think things are about to get pretty muddy.

Who are you?

2008-08-03T14:16:00.004+01:00

Recently I watched a documentary in which a homosexual man tried to discover why he was gay, the cause of who he was. Whatever your views on the nature/nuture debate it was heart wrenching to watch him ask questions cutting to the core of his identity, not just who am I but why am I; and if the cause can be identified as environmental does that mean I'm not who I think I am???

The science in the programme seemed inconclusive and at times tenuous but it got me thinking about the construction of identity. I'm no psychologist but it seems to me that we may have a 'real' objective identity (who we actually are) which may differ from our 'percieved' identity (who we believe ourselves to be), although the latter may as well be real as it becomes the basis of our decisions and actions. The frightening thing is that a considerable amount of our percieved identity seems to be constructed unwittingly either by ourselves or by forces outside of our control. It is a rare moment of clarity in which a person says to themselves 'this is an opportunity to create myself, now who do I want to be'.

So back then to the idea of a 'real' identity which may exist for each of us whether we recognise it or not. The biblical conception of the human self does seem to suggest that before we shape and are shaped 'we are'. The biblical call to repentance and faith is nothing if not a call to rediscover who we really are, made in God's image, designed to glorify him. But the Bible doesn't just focus on this underlying intrinsic (and quite slippery) sense of self, many of the biblical writers also engage in identity construction; for example Peter in his first epistle takes time to lay out the identity of those he writes to before giving moral instruction hinging on 2:11 'Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.'

For Peter identity is a conscious and deliberate basis for behaviour, and perhaps our Christian faith enables precisely that; open eyes to percieve our real nature and freedom from sin to shape ourselves and our world accordingly.

Buy the Field!

2008-07-25T10:38:00.005+01:00

Jesus describes the kingdom as being like treasure hidden in a field, Matt 13:44-46. In this parable the man who finds the treasure hides it again then goes and finds the money to buy the field, which costs him all he has.

The kingdom in this framework is hidden in something fairly ordinary, the decision of the man is not to dig it up and take it away but to buy the plain old field which is now dignified by the presence of this treasure. How much is this true of us and of our communities.

I am involved in a network of community projects called Eden and in my recent musings on my work I have been challenged to be someone who sees life in a place even amidst deprivation. Eden is fundamentally about finding treasure in a field then giving your life to buy that field, not just taking the treasure and running, or seeing a field and deciding to bring our own treasure but percieving the kingdom and dedicating yourself to cultivating kingdom growth within the community in which it by God's grace is to be found.

God works in a context and as we seek to reflect him we're not just treasure seekers but field seekers, buying our workplaces, our communities and our city.

Longing

2008-07-20T15:14:00.004+01:00

It seems to me that one consistent feature of this life is longing. Culture tells us this is a terrible thing, in a world of instant gratification to be denied what we want or even need when we want it is seen as at the very least poor customer service and at worst a denial of our human rights. But despite the stories our society tells us everyone experiences longing, and not just the consumerist itch for more but a deeper more profound sense that this is not all there is. The standard Christian response to this pervasive absence is that its our God shaped hole which, once we have surrendered our life to Jesus will be filled as only he can. And its true, to an extent. But I think that even this understanding of longing buys into our cultural preference for satiation. My experience of living in Christ is that whilst emptiness really is a thing of the past a new hope brings with it a new longing. Not the discontent of our cultural angst but a whole other experience, a sanctified desire for a new future. This longing shouldn't be resented, rejected as lack of faith or even used to accuse God of inadequacy; instead we should embrace this longing and allow it to motivate us to usher in God's future one day at a time.
Longing can then be full of joy and peace even against all the cultural odds as we rest in the certainty of our future hope and the all sufficient love of our God.

You say Jesus I say Christ

2008-07-17T16:56:00.002+01:00

Always intrigued by a battle of the sexes scenario I recently started to put two and two together on male and female responses to the person of Jesus Christ.

Amongst emergant thinkers there's a clear focus on Jesus of Nazareth as the inspiration for life and faith today, and a sense that we need to rediscover him under the layers of Pauline theology that have dominated modern evangelical thinking. As I've been reading along these lines I've been challenged with my own 'preference' for Paul's writings rather than the gospels and it made me wonder why. I think I'm probably not alone in accidentally slipping into sticking to favourite or 'safe' passages of scripture in my devotional life and I wonder whether gender might have a part to play.

Jesus as portrayed in the gospels is unashamedly a man of action, he gets things done, meets needs and makes things happen. In the writings of Paul however Jesus Christ becomes a more conceptual, intuitive person, working from our inner lives and concerned with our motives, values and emotions. Jesus of Nazareth demonstrates a task to be completed and lays down a challenge, he empowers us to act, to imitate his way of life. Jesus the Christ affirms our inner world and the intuitive aspects of our nature, he is a figure of worship, our strength and protection.

Maybe these different angles on Jesus appeal to the genders differently, but as some of us respond to the challenge to action of Jesus of Nazareth they will inevitably run into the question how can I act as he did? The need for an indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus becomes painfully apparant as we are confronted by our human limitations. Likewise as others respond to the inner intimacy of Jesus the Christ shaping their character and restoring their soul the question resounds why? A constant reference to the Jesus who practiced the Kingdom on earth is necessary to prevent us from becoming individualised and insular.

Its so necessary to be shaken out of our 'religious' habits and to recognise the factors that influence us in our response to God whether personality, culture, family background or gender. My personal feeling is that the Gospel narratives of Jesus and Paul's theological exposition of the Christ are, as are men and women, better together.

Are you ready for this?

2008-07-13T12:07:00.005+01:00

Ok so I know I've dropped off the blogging planet for a while but I promise to try harder in future!

So onto my latest musings... over the last few months I've been thinking about spiritual warfare, and specifically the alternative weaponry that God gives us with which to extend his kingdom. To be honest, in my thinking about this and reading people like Walter Wink and William Cavanaugh I kind of forgot to even consider the Ephesians 6 image of the 'armour of God'. I'd been reconsidering my understanding of military images and frankly I've heard the armour 'outfit' thing used so many times that it had kind of lost its potency.

It was actually in a time of prayer that God put his finger on those verses again for me and as always when the Holy Spirit reads it to you there's no danger of it being tame or cliched. I'd been contemplating what our new weaponry might be, infectious holiness from Steve Chalke, assertion of our status as children of God from Wink and courageous sacrificial protest from Cavanaugh but here it is in black and white... truth, salvation, righteousness, faith, the Word of God and readiness.

The power of these realities to overcome darkness mustn't be downplayed but the slightly random element is readiness. When I was praying for this new weaponry to be fully functioning in my life I realised that part of our offence is simply being 'up for it' in God. I love the idea that to overcome evil and extend God's kingdom a central part of our armour is a gung-ho, kamikaze willingness to throw ourselves into his purposes no matter what the cost. Again its not passive, defensive, self-depreciating Christianity but bold, excited, risk-taking faith in a sovereign and victorious God.

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it

2008-03-03T10:27:00.005Z

This audacious statement has been helping me recently to frame some thoughts about God's kingdom work within communities; it appears twice in the Bible, in Psalm 24 it demands awe at God's holiness but in 1 Corinthians 10 it requires engagement with culture for the cause of the Gospel. One image keeps resounding in my mind at the moment, that of the hand of God punching up through dry ground, God is already there, already working. Within the communities that we desire to be transformed God has already staked his claim, from creation until completion the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

Our response to this is rightly awe, an awareness that hope for salvation does not come from us but only from One, however God's claim on us means that we participate in his ownership of the earth, having recognised our need of God we will 'inherit the earth'. Alongside our awe then goes our engagement.

God speaks an alternative reality to the hopelessness and despair we perceive with our human minds; as we approach our communities we need to believe in that different narrative, the fruit of our faith will be the manifestation of the kingdom in our lives, truth, mercy, love and power. The body of Christ revealing Christ, making him tangible to the people he loves.

Discipleship: seekers exploring the answer

2008-02-11T14:57:00.000Z

So much of the apparent gulf between emerging approaches to Christianity and inherited or established understandings of faith seems to hinge on the issue of certainty. The charicature is that on the ecclesiological spectrum emergant church challenges recieved wisdom and retains an open mind on matters of faith whereas churches in the more Modern tradition are so certain that any suggestion of ambiguity can cause real suspicion. I like certainty, I like to know every little thing, but an honest assessment of my faith leads me to admit that I don't know it all, in fact I'm not certain of lots of things; the amazing thing is that somehow thats ok. If God is who he claims to be then I'm not going to be able to figure him out, and if he's not then he's not worth worshipping.

Paul's concept of 'in Christ' means that when we choose to put our faith in Christ for salvation we somehow move, spatially, to a new position in relation to God, actually in Christ. The idea of a whole new world created in Christ appeals to me; it lets me keep a sense of discovery. The paradox of knowing Christ the God who is wholly other is given a concrete location, in Christ.

So I think that makes me a seeker exploring the answer. Fundamental to the Christian story is that God desires to reveal himself to us, to make himself known; we love God by seeking him, and when we find him, trusting in Christ for salvation we continue to love him by recognising his otherness, by retaining humility. Continuing to explore him, to know him better is the way that I say 'I love you' to a God who values my love much more than my certainty.

Spontaneous Human Combustion and the Norovirus

2008-02-04T14:52:00.000Z

I've been reading Joshua recently, a God appointed journey into the random world of ancient Israel storming, forming and norming their way through the middle east. One thing though which has caught my attention is the call on the people of Israel to 'consecrate' themselves and 'devote' the cities they conquer to God. To 'consecrate' seems to involve washing, making pure and other nice Christian images, whereas to 'devote' means to completly annihilate, to reduce to ash! Not so seeker friendly! Interestingly though 'consecration' remains an Old Testament thing to do (the only references to it in the New Testament concern the 'consecrated' things in the Jewish temple). 'Devotion' however is very much a New Testament word, the early church were devoted, Acts 2:42, Paul instructs his churches to be devoted on several occasions - and the implication is still to allow yourself to be utterly consumed for the glory of God a la Romans 12. Set this in a Kingdom context, all things being progressively (now and not yet) brought under the headship of Jesus Christ and you end up with a Christianity which could never be mistaken for mediocre! Several times in the New Testament Paul refers to the Church as the 'firstfruits of the Spirit', the beginnings of a kingdom epidemic effecting the transformation of the entire cosmos, the devotion of all things unto God, the consumption of all things into Christ. So then the Kingdom of God is a little bit like spontaneous human combustion and the Norovirus!

War - what is it good for?

2008-01-26T14:20:00.000Z

I've been thinking a bit about conflict this week, I was in a lecture on 'The Powers' and it got me thinking about our Christian understanding of 'spiritual warfare'. It's a wierd one really, all our Christian lives we are shaped into peace-loving, gentle people who 'as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone' (Romans 12:18) and yet there is a strong thread throughout the Bible and throughout our Christian culture of warfare and confrontation. Its understandable that we might feel a bit uncomfortable with that at times.

I've been thinking about our understanding of war. Human conflict is not pretty; its ugly, fraught with prejudices and injustices. Even when from a political perspective it appears to be two opposing parties one of whom is the agressor the other defending their rights, on the ground this seemingly tolerable picture disintegrates into petty cruelty and localised rivalry and terror.

What does it look like when God wages war? I'm fairly sure it doesn't look like our conflict with Iraq. When we consider the Kingdom of God as a coming reality in our world we cannot ignore the fact that it is coming in opposition to another kingdom, as Paul puts it, the kingdom of darkness. So as the firstfruits of the kingdom of God there is a war to be waged and we are called to participate. This war however bears no comparison to our human conflicts; God's war consists in absolute holiness conflicting with absolute corruption, there are no hidden agendas or conflicting motives in the kingdom of God. It also differs to human warfare in that God doesn't use standard weapons of warfare, in human conflict both sides get their hands on whatever weapons of destruction are available essentailly with the same aim, when God goes to war the war is in itself the manifestation of justice on this earth, the liberation of captives, his weapons are truth, holiness and love. The break in of the kingdom of God is not two polluted, fragmented human associations in competition; rather it is the sovereign goodness of God washing away the bondage of sin, its spiritual agents and its material manifestations.

The Christian use of the language of war can be uncomfortable and even risky but as we come into an appreciation of God's eternal justice and peace maybe we can 'fight the good fight' Not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good (Rom 12:21).

Isaiah 40, on the bigness of God

2008-01-26T14:01:00.000Z

'Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.'

God is REALLY big!

2008-01-26T11:25:00.000Z

Following on from my thinking about Brother Yun I recently had the privilege of hearing Simon Guillebaud, a missionary working in Burundi, speak of his experience of an uncomfortable Christianity. His message was one of confrontation, a challenge to our western commercial faith which so often allows us to get away with living our own way. Surfice to say Simon had a significant impact on everyone who heard him.

I admit my initial response was utterly selfish. I often pray sincerely Lord wherever, whatever, whoever so I just thought 'right Lord, Burundi it is then'. A split second later the Holy Spirit, truth-teller that he is shone a floodlight into my heart exposing my real motivation - to feel accepted, better about myself, to suffer so that I don't have to bear the burden of guilty comfort.

But the thing is God is really big! I am accepted, I am called and I am committed to living that call and, in the process, to allowing God to remove all pride and desire to justify myself enabling me to rely wholly on the love of Jesus. So Manchester it is for now, and all for Jesus, in him, to him and through him.

Anna vs. Yun

2007-12-22T17:33:00.000Z

I think God is really big! I suppose this is stating the obvious but I don't just mean his dimensions, or lack of them; God is big in every way we can imagine and in all the other ways we can't.

I've been reading The Heavenly Man, the story of a Chinese Christian called Brother Yun who has seen thousands of people become Christians whilst undergoing horrific persecution in communist China. The thing is, I don't understand how both Yun and I can exist and be loved by God.

This man has suffered so much for his faith, refusing to renounce Christ during months of torture, he memorized large sections of the Bible and preached and taught from memory rather than from a nice Bible of his own and a million other theology books and discipleship tools. His ministry has been incredibly fruitful and continues to equip and release missionaries from China to the rest of the world. I however live comfortably, with relatively insignificant challenges spending much of my time thinking about theological minutae in the hope that I will have some significance in building the kingdom of God. How can we both be reconciled to the standard Christian understanding of God? How am I allowed to exist?

The only possible answer is that God is big, bigger than I could ever presume to understand and that his grace, the basis on which he accepts me, is magnificent, pure and simple.

Better is one day in you!

2007-12-19T15:07:00.000Z

In Michael Frost's 'Exiles, Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture' he argues for a more holistic concept of worship using a reformulation of Psalm 84:10; he writes it 'one day in the house is great but so are a thousand elsewhere'. His point is to confront a dependence on buildings and formulaic worship services in our personal and corporate lives with God.

This got me thinking, and whilst Frost has a point he makes the basic assumption that the psalmists words are directly applicable to our new covenant 'church' buildings and Sunday gatherings. I think there is stronger support for his point and a much broader statement to make by recognising the inherently 'old covenant' nature of the psalmist's words.

In Psalm 84 the psalmist is longing and looking for a home in God; the temple, its courts and altars are the places of encounter, of God's presence. The hunger of the psalmist resonates with hope of finding refreshment and restoration in the presence of God. The wonder of Christ's death and resurrection is 'Christ in me, the hope of glory'; we still hunger for the presence of God and we can be satisfied, not only in the temple but by experiencing our 'in Christ-ness'. We are his temple both our individual bodies and more fully our communities of faith. Better is one day in Christ, knowing his indwelling Spirit in me and in a community of believers than a thousand outside of Christ, his person and his power.

This verse seen in the light of the resurrection is a trumpet call to a world dispossessed, the hope of a home and hunger fulfilled in Christ.

God is a Pragmatist!

2007-11-28T16:54:00.000Z

These days I feel like I spend most of my time coming to terms with a discrepancy between a vision and a reality. Even in the most mundane daily tasks an ideal situation seems to have to do battle with the real possibilities. Now I'm a hopeful(!) optimist / idealist / romantic so believe me this is tough to take; I work on the basis that there is always a 'third way', a wonderful God inspired solution which actually meets the needs of all involved and enables the kingdom to be extended even through the seemingly meaningless tasks of 'life admin'.

The idealist assumes that their ideal is 'best' and that where it may differ, reality is a poor compromise; the cynic on the other hand, assumes that even reality is a thinly disguised ulterior motive. Both perspectives can be found in the wierd and wonderful world of biblical studies, and we need to honestly recognise that both can at times be found in us as we seek to hear God through his written word. It seems that as you gain more active control over your life, as you become more involved in the implementation of God's will you begin to realise that neither a human sense of idealism or cynicism apply, there's a new ideal (see previous post!) a different goal and a bizarrely unfolding method. Maybe this was the experience of the biblical writers who were working out their salvation with the Holy Spirit and I'm sure a fair amount of fear and trembling, whilst writing it down every step of the way.

God doesn't deal in theories or fantasies; he is not preoccupied by suspicion of the behaviour of humankind, he is not away with the fairies! He is confidently and unashamedly working out his sovereign plans for the salvation of the cosmos, including us! I think God is a pragmatist; if he were a channel 4 show I think he could be described as 'gritty'! God takes us as we are and gets stuck in; considering the vast sinful gulf between him and us this is shocking, and beautiful. God is a pragmatist, not because the 'ideal' is out of his reach but because this way more fully demonstrates his incredible goodness and grace.

The Gap!

2007-10-31T10:10:00.000Z

Some time ago at a seminar I was struck by one of the comments made; that the person concerned had struggled to understand how he could retain his commitment to theology given the human situation in front of him. In that instance he had chosen to ditch his theology in favour of human life but what shocked me was the obvious gap between the two. Between 'theology', talk about God, and human life.

I hate to be boxed in by definitions but I think practical theology is a label I'm pretty happy to carry. Surely there should not be such a rift between our theology and our human lives that one or the other has to take the fall; either we surrender our concept of God in the face of human realities or we deny the complexity of human existence in order to preserve a simplistic view of God. It does cause some problems though - what happens when our lives don't match up to our theology, when a God who heals just doesn't or when the transforming power of the cross just doesn't appear to be enough for the drug addict. Do we allow our theology to be dictated by our experience? Absolutely not!

I'm totally still working on this but I'm thinking that God is not scared by human life, he's not surprised by our issues or intimidated by the complexity of our situations. If God is our Creator and our Redeemer then not only does he know all that we are capable of but he has also made a way of redemption through the darkest and seemingly most hopeless situation.

We must never shy away from human life in order to protect our idea of God and we must always be prepared to hold our experience accountable to a biblical account of the nature of God.

Stale beer - the scent of the holy

2007-10-29T21:13:00.000Z

Recently I've been looking back to my Liverpool days. In my current context of urban theology it seems crazy and amazing to me that ten years ago I was walking the back streets of Liverpool city centre and finding God in every step.

On my breaks from work I would walk and pray, taking in the textures, sights, sounds and smells of the city and falling in love with it and with the God that I found there. In the two and a half years I was there I dreamed for that city, but most of all I dreamed for the human community I encountered; the homeless, the clubbers, the drug addicts and the shoppers. Those above and below the waterline of the city, some surfing some drowning.

I readily admit my naivete at the time; I was still coming to terms with myself and my engagement with the people I met was instinctive rather than strategic, I had no language, no 'theological framework' for my experience - just me and Jesus.

Recently God has been revealing his passion for human community to me again in a new context. My response has been one of pain and awe in the face of such massive need and human chaos; a response which God has consistently met with a gentle reassurance of his sovereignty, his all sufficiency which surrounds every need waiting to be unleashed.

The nature of God makes every need a glory, every weakness an affirmation of his strength. Again I find myself needing to come to terms with a new me and find a new engagement with my community; its an exciting new adventure but it also carries a sweet nostalgia. The pubs in Openshaw smell of the same stale beer in the mornings as Liverpool's Slater St, and it's sourness will always be to me the fragrance of God's presence.

What kind of bread?

2007-10-17T14:04:00.000+01:00

Today I've been reading the gospel of John and within my usual preoccupation with God's heart for the poor I spotted something a bit interesting. In chapter 6 Jesus miraculously feeds 5000 people with a few loaves and fish, clearly impressive but the response of the people is really telling. After the meal Jesus sneaks off for a bit of alone time and later that evening joins his disciples as they make their way across the lake to Capurnaum. The next day the 5000 people who had been fed by Jesus realise he has given them the slip and all get into boats and cross the lake to find him; but why?

When they get to Jesus he sees right to their hearts; 'I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.' It would not be too much of a presumption to suppose that this crowd were poor and lived at subsistence level; in Jesus they had not recognised the Son of God but just a meal ticket. Jesus urges them 'Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life'.

In our attempts to bring the kingdom through material provision and social justice, meeting the 'felt needs' of the poor in our society, we need to remember that food does not make disciples; for the poor and marginalised in our society Jesus is their source, but not only of food and clothing, also of something far more enduring, of eternal life. Jesus was passionate to meet their need for food but also to reveal to them their real need beyond their felt need, and ultimately to meet both through his miraculous power and presence. 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry'.

The power of a body

2007-10-08T10:22:00.000+01:00

I've just watched an amazing programme about methods of protest which included the story of Rachel Courie who opposed the destruction of a family home in India by sitting in front of the bulldozer and was killed as it ran over her, backed up and ran over her again, just to make a point. This horrific story must provide a challenge to anyone with any understanding of God's heart for justice. It reminded me of the Sebastian Acevedo Movement against Torture (for more info see Cavanaugh's Torture & Eucharist) who protested against the kidnapping and torture carried out by the Pinochet regime in Chile during the 1980s by taking liturgy to the streets, appearing in groups in crowded squares, performing liturgical and poetic mini services and disappearing again , in many cases the police would swoop in and attemp to silence them with gas, water and dogs, in this way they in their own bodies displayed the unjust torture suffered by the unseen victims and allowed the authorities to condemn themselves in full view of the world.

The exposure and condemnation of injustice through the embodiment of suffering is profoundly Christ-like. Biblical images of the suffering redeemer abound, Hosea lived it, Isaiah wrote about it, all pointing towards Jesus who embodied the bondage of sin and exposed its evil grip on humanity in his very public and torturous death. I would like to think that if I had been in Chile during such oppression I would have been a part of this courageous and convicted Movement against Torture; but in my context Christ's radical indentification with me in my sin challenges me to seek to indentify with the community around me, in its bondage and need in order to expose and condemn this bondage and demonstrate the liberating power of the kingdom of God.

The God of human community

2007-09-30T18:02:00.000+01:00

Following my idealism train of thought the idea that God is in fact the God of human community is intriguing. We have so many conceptions of what church should be and look like although for the most part we struggle to comprehend the seemingly chaotic and confused bunch of people who are called the body of Christ. To understand God's sovereignty in relation to his church seems to be an even tougher call than the more traditional 'problem of suffering', here are a people who are justified and who are being sanctified, yet many of the fractures remain.

I love the church and I trust God and this leads me to believe that there must be a beautiful bride and an adoring, redeeming groom in this picture somewhere. This has echos of biblical ideas of strength in weakness, that God's perspective on our difficult relationships is radically different to our own. So far I'm thinking that our weakness forces us to live in total dependence on God which allows us to live in the fullness of Christ's resurrection life therefore actually making us the strongest people on earth (follow my logic?).

Map that onto a community and the bride becomes even more beautiful to the groom as she demonstrates her utter need of him by her brokenness and allows him to fully display his glory in her redemption.

Really ideal?

2007-09-29T17:43:00.000+01:00

I've been thinking a bit about Idealism - the tendancy which we all have to a certain extent to pursue and measure our experiences by an invisible standard. I am a self confessed idealist, I have high standards and I expect reality to measure up. Over the years I've learnt that human idealism if left to its own devices can run riot causing me to neglect or devalue the real blessings in my life.

Recently I've come back to the notion of idealism with a slightly different tack - what is God's ideal? Taking into account the fact that something real and actual, however small, is already of more worth than something fictional or fantastical, maybe in considering what God might hold as his ideal we should look a little closer to home.

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to to 'more than we could ever ask or imagine' but the story of the Bible is that God does all that through 'his power that is at work within us'. The Christian life is this crazy combination of impossibility and actuality; that God's ideal might be the gritty reality of human life with him, with all its mess, issues and transformations. Maybe its true to say that God's ideal is at the same time totally mundane and more than we could ask and imagine; the reality of his work in our lives looking a bit messy and risky to us yet achieving a 'weight of glory' which we will only fully appreciate when all things are made new.

Thoughts from Ruth

2007-09-12T13:41:00.000+01:00

The book of Ruth has got to be up there with some of the most random of biblical stories but also with the most beautiful. Its almost like wearing a veil - less obvious but also instantly more attractive and intriguing. I found myself reading Ruth straight through a number of times recently and was drawn in to this story of a family that goes through so much and eventually finds security.

It struck me that God works in the situation that Ruth and Naomi find themselves in through two avenues; the circumstances surrounding them and the character which they and Boaz display. The famine in Israel drives Naomi and her family to Moab where her sons find wives, Ruth and Orpah. After the death of her husband and two sons it takes the promise of food to make Naomi decide to head back to Israel and Ruth follows in a beautiful pledge of allegiance. Their shame on returning home alone is obvious but God works through the faithfulness of Ruth, the integrity and goodness of Boaz and the pragmatism and savvy of Naomi to secure Ruth a husband and the posterity of the family line.

What appears initially to be a simple family story reveals some really amazing stuff about God; he reveals himself through the comings and goings of our lives. Ruth displays God's faithfulness in her commitment to Naomi and Boaz enacts the role of redeemer for Ruth giving us a hint of God's plans. God turns randomness into purpose, he tells his story through the little stories of our lives and through the circumstances he places us in and the character he is developing in us we are a testament to his nature and kingdom purpose in the world.

Montreal Tales - Christ in Clingfilm

2007-08-21T23:30:00.000+01:00

She had been sat so still for ages, it intrigued me but at the same time I couldn't intrude. To the side of the massive altar at the Oratory of St Joseph a concrete passage led back into shadows except for a faint light silhouetting a single figure, sitting, I assume praying.

The basilica is all grey stone and shadows, the occasional spotlight drawing me like a moth. Its hush makes me sad rather than peaceful and I struggle to figure out why. I'm pretty sure God is no respecter of denominations, he resides where people love and long for him, but this just doesn't feel like home.

I wander about some more, taking in the stillness and fighting the almost overwhelming sense that I'm out of place and find myself at the side of the praying woman, her hands open and her lips moving. She reminds me of Hannah, and of every intimate moment I've had with Jesus and I'm moved by her. I try to see what she is praying before, wrought iron bars 1960s style create a sanctuary beyond and on the far wall something which shocks me and shakes me; unintentionally and graphically articulating my unease about this place. Its just a sanctuary in the making, a broom, a bin and a crucifix still waiting to be unwrapped, Christ in cling film.

I just wish I had had the guts to take a photo.

Faith: the door of opportunity?

2007-08-11T20:38:00.000+01:00

I've been reading the gospels recently looking for God's perspective on authority and in the process have come across some really amazing, and in some cases quite random, things. I've done Matthew and Mark and I'm halfway through Luke but one thing which is a consistant theme is the relation between faith and authority in Jesus' ministry.

I'm pretty used to the idea that faith is integral to receiving healing, deliverance or miracles but this looks rather different; it seems that in his ministry Jesus understood himself and was understood by others to be exercising authority. So when we pray for healing are we just asking God to do something for us or rather speaking with authority and commanding the sickness which is in opposition to the kingdom of God to fall in line?

Jesus appears to do the latter and this adds a different twist to our understanding of faith. In this scenario faith stops being something that we do which inclines God to act of our behalf - a persuader; instead faith is a declaration of allegience to the kingship of Jesus, to the way things are in heaven rather than the way things are on earth. This declaration then unleashes his authority in our lives and necessarily effects transformation in the shape of healing, deliverance, miracles. In a nutshell, salvation!

'Incarnational' - adjective or noun?

2007-07-16T08:35:00.000+01:00

I'm totally not a fan of the current trend of using 'incarnational' as a descriptive; the idea that Christianity is something which can be, at times and by specific people, described as incarnational seems to me to be totally misleading.

If Christianity is anything it is incarnational! Far from being a 'style' or ministry option for church leaders, incarnation is the very stuff of the Christian life on an individual and corporate level.

The incarnation or enfleshing of Jesus was a one time occurance sure, but it was an one time for all time event. In becoming Christians we are incorporated into Christ, and are made sons of God and parts of Christ's body; as a result we become little incarnations of Christ in this world. As individuals we cannot choose to follow Christ but avoid Christ incarnate in us; his only method of discipleship is to move in, to inhabit your flesh by the Holy Spirit. Its the only hope for our redemption, extreme yes but nothing else can overcome our sin.

'Incarnational ministry' has come to carry numerous connotations; an endorsement of the material world and human culture, a desire to meet people where they are and a strategy to participate in shared human life with them. I really love this but I'd far prefer to hear it called Christian ministry - its such a mistake to think that we can be a Christian and still avoid the incarnation of Christ in us affecting the world around us. A Christian life without incarnation is simply no Christian life at all!