Sharing the news!

I opened a prayer meeting this evening (Wednesday) asking God to speak to us, to respond to our prayers. Later in that meeting I was meditating on equipping people to share the gospel and as you may know there is a plethora of books, programmes and training material that is intended to help Christian's in this task. A question swam around my head 'how do we share the gospel' and an answer was quickly forthcoming; with the gospel. The reality being that if the gospel is not only on our lips, but in our hearts and embedded deeply in who we are, our very being, then to share the gospel is a natural consequence of our existence. It seems a simple enough message, one that the early church thrived upon, perhaps it is something that the 21st century church should think about before it turns to the latest 'share the gospel quick' programme.

A stake in the ground!

I think that often when people come to Christ that they see it as putting a stake in the ground as if to say 'I have made it here!' Whilst it is a significant event becoming a Christian, we need to be careful that we don't view it as an opportunity to place a stake, rather we should see it as planting a tree. A tree that will be nurtured and grow throughout our faith journey with the hope that it will "bear fruit in season" with the hope that the fruit that we bear will be good fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control. Because ultimately we are not a Christian because of a stake in the ground that marks a point in time when we acknowledged that Christ is real, no, we can call ourselves a Christian only if we have planted a tree and through nurturing by a life that acknowledges Christ, that tree, our faith, bears good fruit.

Going Native

When I was working in industry as a consultant one of things we were warned against was "going native." I would be tasked to go into an organisation to analyse the way they worked, particularly their manufacturing processes, with a view to challenging them to change to become more efficient. Short term assignments would not present a problem, but longer term assignments - those taking months or even years - could result in one becoming to empathetic with the people, becoming "one of the lads" which would make it more difficult to implement change, or more commonly, not notice where change was needed.

This week at the WEBA Ministers conference we had a speaker - Malcolm Duncan - who suggested that this can happen when we are reaching out to the community. We start with an intent to meet the needs of people and share the gospel, but end up being one of the people and forget why we were originally doing this. I must say that I believe he is correct; I have seen many amazing projects and initiatives over the past few years that began as a way to share the gospel, but ended up being a social enterprise with the message of Jesus hidden or even absent.

As a church with a clear community vision we have to ensure that we keep the gospel of Jesus in our hearts and minds, and that our continuing desire reflects the words of the Northumbria Canticle that Jesus is "in the hearts of those to whom we speak, and on the lips of those who speak unto us." That whilst we go into a community to meet their physical, social and emotional needs, we are clear that our strong hope and ultimate objective is that they will come to know the Jesus that we know. We will not keep him hidden, but through our words as well as our actions we will be proclaiming the truth of Christ.

Jesus a Punk Rocker?

When you hear the word punk rocker you probably think of a weird, colourful hairstyle, safety pins, terrible language and even more terrible music. But that superficial expression of oneself is only part of the story. Behind all the shock of the punk movement which began in the late 1970's was a movement that was inclusive, non-judgmental and supportive and for many young people like myself who were suffering oppression or worse at home and living through the power cuts, 3 day weeks poverty and deprivation of the time it was a sanctuary where we could be ourselves, express ourselves and stick two fingers up at a nation that seemed to be in self-destruct mode. 

When Jesus appeared on the scene in first-century Jerusalem Judaism had been in self-destruct mode for generations. The leaders of the nation, in many cases no more than puppets of their Roman overlords, used their position as the keepers, interpreters and enforcers of the religious law to "load people with burdens hard to bear” (Luke 11:46) whilst living an easy life for themselves in luxury and false piety. Sound familiar? Then along came Jesus: counter-cultural and anarchic! He challenged the accepted order, lived among the despised and forgotten of society, preached a way of life that was inclusive, and stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. Its no wonder that he was accused of being subversive by the Jewish authorities who preferred to have “notorious prisoner called Barabbas” (Matthew 27:16) amongst them who was “among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection” (Mark 15:7). They saw Jesus as not only a threat to the peace that they had with the Romans, something he had in common with Barabbas, but also a direct threat to them and their authority.

So Jesus was not only inclusive non-judgmental and supportive, he was also anarchic, subversive and non-conformist. Jesus a punk rocker? It's an interesting thought.

2014

Well what a year that was! I guess if I had written down in January 2014 my expectations for the year ahead I would have missed off a few major almost earth-shattering events that happened. Chief amongst those would be finding myself single at the start of 2015 with very little hope for reconciliation with Michelle in spite of my best efforts. This reminds me of two pieces of scripture, the first of which has cropped up many times in my life Proverbs 3:5,6:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 

We must always trust in God to make things happen according to His plan and not our own, so I start 2015 with this scripture held close to my heart. What will 2015 have in store for my life, my relationships, my family? I will continue to pray and I trust God with the expectation that His will be done in my life and of those that I love.

The second piece of scripture comes from the book of James chapter 4:13-17. The wisdom of James tells us that we should not put to much store in our own plans, desires and wants. Yes make plans, yes have expectations but place them in His hands saying "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

I have lots of plans for 2015, I am excited about what God may have in store for me and our fellowship, but the beat of my drum will be Proverbs 3:5,6 with the words from James 4:15 on my lips.

 

James 5

I have just been reading James 5 and it got me to wondering; in a society where no one goes without, where money - through loans, credits and benefits - is readily available, where even the poorest amongst us can have clothes to wear, food in their bellies, a roof over their heads, and access to amazing health facilities, how can this warning to rich oppressors apply to us? In the end the answer comes swiftly and once again we have to stop thinking on an individual basis and think corporately, or in this case globally. Our country along with many countries in the world qualifies as a "rich oppressor" of other nations that do not have our wealth and opportunities, the question is "how do I challenge this?" but the answer does not come swiftly in this case. Perhaps as individuals and corporately as the church we can use what opportunity we have to change the status quo, and perhaps as the Church we can start with ourselves. I love Pope Francis and all that he is trying to do with the Catholic Church, what a man of God he is. I see Justin Welby in a similar light however I think his job is much more difficult than the Pope's as the Anglican Church is so intertwined with our government and the laws of this land. But enough of that, I am called to take the plank of wood out of my own eye before I try to take the speck of dust out of my brothers eye and there is where I need to begin.

Let it snow!!

Apparently there is a storm front on its way that could result in us having a white Christmas? In spite of all the disruption it causes I love snow. I love it when one gets up in the morning to find the world covered in a blanket of white, I love it even more when the snow is virgin, there are no footprints to disturb its perfect, unbroken covering. Or when you can see the footprints made by the little birds as they forage about for food. When walking in it I love it when in crunches under your feet, and the way it seems to deafen the sounds and brings a little quiet into our noisy world. It seems that all that purity, that whiteness can cover up the brokenness and detritus of our world, and just for a time the earth is perfect once again.

The cleansing that the snow seems to bring and the purity of its brilliant radiance is reflected in the words of King David in Psalm 51 who, when pleading for mercy and forgives after Nathan the Prophet admonished him for his affair with Bathsheba and his treachery towards Uriah, wrote "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." David goes on to say "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Like washing away our sins, snow is only temporary in our part of the world, like the first verse we can wash and be clean but that doesn't change our hearts, we can still be unclean on the insider, which is why David asks God to do a work within him.

We are reading James at the moment and in 4:8 it says "wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Emphasising the fact that it is not just our exterior that needs to show the mark of holiness and salvation, but what is inside as well, echoing the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." Jesus then goes on to instruct that we should "clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."

Cleansing, renewal and recreation are fundamental to our faith but they all start with what is going on inside such as our minds being renewed (Romans 12:12). All of this is perhaps summarised best by Ephesians 4:22-25 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

As we approach the end of another year through the gateway of Christmas and our celebration of the birth of Jesus, let us all think about ourselves and ask "do we conform to the pattern of this world?" is our faith like snow; a beautiful, pure blanket yet covering something not so beautiful underneath? If that is the case then why not join me in a prayer of David:

Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

    and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

    and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,

    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins

    and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    so that sinners will turn back to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

    you who are God my Savior,

    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

Amen