How long?

I have been watching the brilliant, but occasionally farcical, The Passing Bells. A drama about a young German lad and a young British lad who volunteer in WW1. Whilst watching accounts of these young men, some as young as fifteen, going off to war and the pain felt by their families left behind I had a chilling thought; how long before our children have to go off and fight a war. A whimsical thought you may think, but just look at the world today, what would it take for all the current conflicts in the Middle East to merge into one major conflict that draws all the world in? Not that much I am sure and that is disturbing. Jesus said that "blessed are the peacemakers" and the time is long overdue for the politicians of this world to stop thinking about their own careers and pushing their own personal, self-seeking agenda's, and to start thinking about how peace can be brought about in our troubled world. I accept that this may mean further and greater conflict, even though I find this distasteful, but something must be done to halt the ever-decreasing circle of violence and hate that will eventually see the children of all nations going off to war on a global scale.

Just Friends?

I heard someone use this statement on TV this evening and it stopped me in my tracks, its a statement I have heard many times before and often used myself; a statement that means that there is nothing going on between them. In short that a boy and a girl, or a man and a woman are not having a sexual relationship. Then everyone breathes a sigh of relief "Oh there just friends! Well that's all sorted then."

But there is no such thing as "just friends"; friends are there for you in your time of need, they give everything unconditionally or without expecting anything back, they are not easily offended, they get more joy out of seeing you happy or succeeding than being happy or succeeding themselves. In the relationship, no matter how deep and maybe intimate it is, there is no expectation of a sexual relationship, indeed it is on neither parties agenda. Friendship, true friendship, can never be described as "just" a friendship, it is earth shatteringly huge. It can change the way people think, change the way people live, and even completely change the world. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus demonstrated the significance of friendship with the ultimate sacrifice that changed our world. So please, lets drop this “just friends” as an escape clause when describing relationships and lets treat friendship the way it should be, with awe.  Perhaps when someone asks you if there is something going on between two people and you know the truth then perhaps the response should be: “No they are not lovers, but they are friends.”

Rough and Ready

My dad always used to say to me that if something is worth doing, then it is worth doing well. He had a good point, but in some cases if we wait until everything is perfect before we do something then it may never get done at all. In the case of our faith if we wait until we are perfect before we start contributing to the work of the kingdom then we will never get going, indeed our study in James will explore the fact that perfection can only be achieved if we actually get on and do something; teaching that is diametrically opposed to my Dad's nugget of wisdom. 

I am sure we are all aware of the amount of effort that goes into a Sunday morning service, sometimes I get frustrated that there is always something else to do on a Sunday morning before I can  get on with the business in hand. This can often lead to some of us who are involved starting the service flustered, confused, agitated or even angry.....not a good place to be when  coming before God, especially when one is required to lead or teach others.

At the beginning of my ministry at Station Hill it was my intention to spend most of the morning before the service in meditation and prayer, and although I have managed to more time in prayer compared to previous years, my desire (and it is a desire, not a goal or objective but a heart-felt desire) for fervent, sustained, focused prayer for at least thirty minutes before the service is yet to be met. The evening services are supposed to be quite different, more relaxed, less formal. Yet the last two, despite being all these things, have been a little "rough and ready" particularly when it comes to organising the music. I was encouraged last night, not only by the number of people who attended, but also by the way people faced our disorganisation with humour and grace. Hopefully we will get into our stride and be a little more organised in the future, but without creating the organisational challenges that face is on Sunday mornings. Wouldn't it be so much easier if we could just turn up and it all worked? Yes, but I would rather find perfection through the works that I do, than strive for perfection before I do anything.

Just war?

This year we are both thinking about the horrors of WW1 and potentially staring down the barrel of another global conflict with the rapid rise of ISIS, a regime that parallels at least in its evil conduct, the heinous Nazi regime. But was waging war on the Nazis the right thing to do? Isn't the evil of these ideologies justification for war, and as a result isn't such a war just? Well yes and no, but You have to understand that I am coming from the position of a pacifist, which is quite unusual considering I come from a family of "warriors." Let me deal first with my take on "pacifist"; for me this does not mean I will avoid war at all and any cost, it means that I will not sit back act as a peacemaker and watch nations descend into war! No, I will make every effort to avoid war with the realisation that sometimes war becomes inevitable.

So back the question 'can there be a just war?" In Romans 3:10 Paul quotes Psalm 14 "as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one" and my argument is that the unrighteous cannot prosecute a just war. God is righteous so a war prosecuted by him, or by those he commands to do so can be just. In WW2 there were people on both sides who claimed God was on their side.  In the case of the war on ISIS both the "Christian" West and Muslim ISIS claim to have God on their side, yet neither are just in their actions. So neither WW2 nor the war on ISIS can claim to be just. "Can I really believe my eyes, does Simon really think that?" 

Do not adjust your set! 

A history lesson: Let's start with WW1, an unavoidable war apparently because of the tensions caused by imperialism, and ambition that is brought about by too much power. A war that can only be described as disgusting. The end of the war that resulted in defeat of Germany and her allies was marked by a surrender that the victors ensured was both deliberately humiliating and economically disastrous For Germany. It was this environment caused by Britain and its allies that gave birth to the evils of Nazism. This then brings us to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and all the other countries in that area: for decades after WW2 the Super-Powers of the U.S., USSR and their respective allies exerted their power and influence in these areas for their own gain. This without a care for what the conditions they were creating as they promoted and supported various despots financially and militarily. The first evidence perhaps of the long term effect of this was the backlash and eventual deposing of the Shah of Iran and in his place the hardline Ayatollah Khomeini. Saddam Hussein, the House of Saud in Saudi, the Al-Assad family in Syria etc. etc. are all products of the Wests interference with ISIS a direct result of the activities of these regimes. A localised war to get rid of the Saddam Hussein who could no longer be controlled by the Super-Powers has destabilised the entire region and now we are in a position where a bigger and more extensive war is necessary to try and reestablish some sort of normality.

 

My personal conclusion is that WW2 was necessary, as I believe is the prosecution of war on ISIS, but are these wars just, not in my humble opinion.

Best job in the world?

Apparently being a church Minister is the most rewarding job in the world. I am only 6 weeks into the job but would like to believe that it is. Driving to work this morning after a pretty stressful couple of hours getting the kids ready for school then taking them to school, I found myself feeling excited about the prospects that the day held. For me what I do is a combination of hobby and dream job, I have often said to myself, or perhaps shouted, 'I can't believe that I am the minister of a church!' Things are sometimes difficult, people are sometimes unreasonable, some moments are filled with sadness, and some days full of despair for Gods world. But when all things are considered this is the best job in the world and I can't wait for tomorrow when I can get back into the office again!

Red Face

Today has been a day of positives and negatives, of highs and lows: the highs and the positives have been the big things, the seminal stuff where God has been involved; the negatives and the lows have been the petty things, the small things, where people are involved and God seems to be ignored. I have ended up with a red face on more than one occassion today because of my annoyance or irritation. So how can I let these little things get to me, the answer is I shouldn't, I shouldn't allow myself be caught off-guard by the tempter. I shouldn't succumb to anger. I need to take a deep breath and accept that those annoying things are not important. So I am going to try!

When is a lie not a lie?

Or more accurately, is it okay to tell a 'white lie'? I was challenged by this the other day at the house group I attend. We were talking about the characteristics of a holy life, or being holy, and we got on to the subject of telling the truth. I have to say that I am quite black and white (pardon the pun) and tend to simplify my response by affirming my belief that there is no such things as 'degrees of sin', sin is sin and that is the end of it. I have preached on this more than once and am not shy about my opinion. But is there a time when a white-lie actually is better than the truth? The group I was with discussed the infamous 'does my bum look big in this' question and response (when the person asking's bottom does actually look too big in a particular article of clothing) and concluded that actually in such matters the truth, the polite and humble truth, was the best response. But what about in other more difficult situations? At the other extreme of the apparel and figure question is 'am I going to die?' What do you say when asked by someone who is terminally ill? How do you respond when it is a child, a parent, a sibling, a close friend? What do we say? To be frank I am not sure and I guess will not be sure about this until I get asked the question. 

With the benefit of not being exposed to such a situation in my life since my teens I will try and address this. If I were to look at it from the person to whom the bad news is going to be delivered then I can honestly say that I would want people to be honest with me. I would want to get my house in order, to perhaps do some things and say some things that I had left undone and unsaid. Also I guess that as an adult Christian who believes without a doubt that God has promised me eternal life, death holds a different meaning to me than the non-believer, the agnostic or the atheist. So for me the truth is a blessing in that situation, but what about a child, what about if it was my child? I would like to think that I would be honest with them, but when its all said and done I don't really know. I like to hold on to my belief that the truth is always best, and that when couched in love and humility, God will hold that precious truth and ensure that all who own it will be blessed by it.