Freedom of Facebook: Danger or a gift? (part 1)

Have you ever stopped to wonder how long you spend on facebook? Why you are on there? I have recently been doing so and it has led me to some heart accessing questions. I have been particularly led to this as I write my essay on ‘freedom’ and look at the freedom of access to information we have with such social networking sites as these. I will share with you the summaries of my research.

1.  Emotional immodesty - Samelson (Emotional Immodesty on Facebook) states that we can be prone to emotional immodesty in how we use Facebook. She gives examples of people who feel the need to expose the emotional intimacy of their relationships with their friends, their spouses, their children's births. She gives examples of tweets and status that reveal too much (even if about spiritual things). I have been challenged about how much I share on Facebook and why I do it. The writer of blog 'Perjoyance' (Facebook: A Christian Perspective) states that Facebook can enable us to fall into a place of narcissism where we promote ourselves and assume to expect that "everyone is interested in you". 

 2. Superficial Relationships  -  

The 'Perjoyance' blogger states, “Facebook also poses limitations on relationships….how we distinguish between ‘friends’ and ‘facebook friends’…Written words can lack the meanings we mean, we can use it as an online space where we sort out our problems or where we can quickly share our opinions and gossip…..It’s important to remember how much more sufficient real face to face physical friendships are, and they should have priority. Sometimes its worth asking, am I spending more time communicating on facebook than in ‘real life’ with my friends?

3. Excessive Time Wasting
Both Curtman (Christian Perspective) and the writer of 'Perjoyance' explore how Facebook can be a danger in excessive squandering of time. Curtman states that they did a survey in America at four evangelical Christian colleges found that "students between the ages of 18 and 27 spend an average of 18.6 hours a week using Facebook." According to Col 4:5 he says to “walk in wisdom,” requires our “redeeming the time.”  And so he states “The Lord will hold us accountable for the stewardship we practice regarding our time.” The writer of Perjoyance states of his attendance to facebook, "The number of times I have checked facebook in the morning before reading my Bible is actually ridiculous.” I too have drawn back from Facebook as I review 'how much time have I spend on Facebook?' Is it helpful for my mind? 

4. Facebook - tool for evil???

Curtman goes as far as to suggest that Facebook can be used as a tool 'for the Savour's work' or a tool for 'Satan's work.' He states,

"Your Facebook page can be used to spread the message Christ wants the world to have or the one Satan wants the world to have.  It can be a tool to bless men’s souls or to blight them.” 

But how one might ask? He states that we can use Facebook to big ourselves up, to post things that are emotionally intimate, to mix with the wrong characters, to browse on that which is unhelpful or time wasting. Countless people, he states, have committed affairs because of Facebook. Alternatively, he says, we can use it to bless others, to promote the gospel and the Church. He reports that it is surprising how many professing Christians never mention their faith at all on line. He asks some challenging questions,  

“How are you using your Facebook account?…What are you doing with your Facebook account other than publishing your secular interests and activities?....One day Christ will hold Christian Facebook users to an account for how they used this powerful communications tool that He allowed them to have in their hands.”

5. Facebook and the power of Testimony
Curtman also looks at our testimony as represented by what people see through Facebook. He quotes the apostle Paul said, “all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Cor. 6:12) and suggests we are to be mindful of the ‘law of expediency’ when we use Facebook,

“Nothing communicates a Christian’s testimony more clearly than what they put in their Facebook profile, and what they otherwise post on their Facebook page....  few things can compare with Facebook in communicating quickly and clearly whether or not a Christian has a heart for God.  What does what you have “up” on Facebook say about you, and where you are spiritually? 

 He says don’t just think about your own testimony but the testimony you give about the way you have been raised, your family, your friendships and your church. Does what you write reflect well on these people? Is the testimony I present of myself and to others one of salt and light (Matt 5) or rather a stumbling block to ourselves or others? Wow I am challenged!

I have mostly looked at the 'dangers' of Facebook in this entry but in Part 2 I will look at the ways in which Facebook can also be a wonderful gift!

Beautiful England, and a beautiful motorbike!

I am begining to appreciate England's beauty more and more! This is along the Oxford-Coventry Canal Path

Bourton-On-The-Water

Herefordshire

More Herefordshire

My beautiful lexmoto Vixen 125

Conversations on Mission and Community - A joy bursting out....

I've had a funny down week. Perhaps I'm tired or perhaps I'm just frustrated, or both. One of those weeks where I'm like 'how Lord are you gonna fit all those amazing visions and dreams and passions I have about mission and community and make it useful?' I am half way through my Bible studies this year and can't help thinking, 'What’s round the corner?' However without God in all these dreams and passions they are just great ideas. But I have to trust that all this learning and studying will lead me into the direction he wants me to take.

The more I read about mission and evangelism the more I'm convinced that they are not as separated as missiologists and church leaders may make out. Traditionally evangelism is seen as 'proclamation' of the gospel and conversion of unbelievers and possibly discipleship (though I might dare to suggest the latter is often missed out!). Mission is regarded as something much broader, often including social action, reaching the poor, fighting for issues of injustice etc...And in churches the 'mission' bit is often left to those who go overseas or are sent on random yearly projects in the local town. To put it another way mission is often see as the umbrella to evangelism. However once we delve into these areas all sorts of questions are asked, 'Is the most important aspect of mission about spreading the gospel and seeing people saved?' What about social action? What about the Holy Spirit - maybe he does it all for us and we can quit even thinking about these things.....Why do we divorce everything from each other? We love to do that in our Western mindsets (still heavily Greek saturated -seeMy Big Fat Greek Mindset).

If mission is just about social action then we are just glorified social workers

If mission is just about fighting for political issues then we are just politicians

If mission is just proclamation of the gospel then we are just preaching.

The Holy Spirit must direct where we go but that doesn't mean we are divorced from the equation. As I read I am convinced of one thing. It's all about the life of Christ spilling out of us. If we are so consumed by the presence of Christ in us it will literally spill out like a fragrance. We will naturally proclaim Christ as we hang out with people because we are so excited about Him! We will want to feed the hungry because we will have the same gut wrenching compassion for those around us. As Newbigin says,

"Jesus said as he was on the cross, "where I am, there shall my servant be" (John 12:26). The one who has been called and loved by the Lord, the one who wishes to love and serve the Lord, will want to be where he is. .....At the heart of mission is simply the desire to be with him and to give him the service of our lives. At the heart of mission is thanksgiving and praise. We distort matters when we make mission an enterprise of our own in which we can justify ourselves by our works.....the Church's mission began as the radioactive fallout from and explosion of joy. When it is true to its nature, it is so to the end. Mission is an acted out doxology. That is its deepest secret. Its purpose is that God may be glorified." (Newbigin The Gospel In A Pluralist Society, p127)

The disciples and apostles in the Early Church were absoluetly enthused by the life of Christ, it literally flowed out of them. Even Paul said that all his intellect and eloquent preaching was nothing without Christ's life living in him. I am absolutely convinced that mission and evangelism cannot be seperated from Christ. The ministry, death and resurrection of Christ by the Holy Spirit must somehow be incarnate in us to such a degree that a joy busts out of us to those around us. That is what I call mission and evangelism.

Below are links to some interesting community and mission projects in the UK to inspire you:
Urban Expressions
Community Mission
Eden Network
Global Connections

XLP

Bleeding for a Generation

Ted: Where do you see yourself in 5years time?
Robyn: I don't know. I don't want to know. I want my life to be one big adventure.
Maybe I'll travel to Argentina. Maybe I'll go to China. I dunno. 
Ted: Oh.
(In TV show 'How I met your mother')

I am bleeding for myself and my generation,
I am bleeding for a generation that has conviction -
Conviction of heart, of dreams, of visions.
Mostly conviction about Christ,
His vision and dreams for the Kingdom
And what that means played out in my life -
In each of our lives.

Sometimes I think I'm just like the Pharisees and disciples -
Reading all these theology books but not letting it sink in.
They knew the law but it was all head and no heart.
Jesus wants radical, risk-taking, faith-busting believers.
He chooses those who are more hungry for His presence
Than anything the world has to offer.
He wants people with focus, direction, passion.
People who are tenacious about Him.

It hit me today as I read through Mark's Gospel
That the disciples and the teachers of the law
Are often the last to recognise what Jesus is doing.
But the poor, sick and even the demons acknowledge
His authority and presence.

I'm challenged that Jesus tells us that we have
 To be like a child to really see Him.
Children trust, they don't run in their own strength.
Neither do the sick, the weak, the tired and the poor
They are not afraid of what people think.
They are like blind Bartemaus (Mark 10:46-52).
So desperate for Jesus that they shout in the streets for Him!

They don't want to win clever arguments.
The poor, the desperate, the weak know they need Jesus
But so often I don't.
And I can end up filling my life with busyness and wonderful adventures
Not address the real issues.
Often that is about being, and enjoying His presence.

When Jesus says in Mark 'O unbelieving generation' (9:19)
I wonder if He is saying this to me and my generation.
We often have so many choices it's difficult to know where to look,
It's so easy to bumble from one great activity to the next.
So many choices, so little need to commit or have
Responsibility for anything.
(perhaps the recession will change that!)
Why plan the future? The world is my oyster?!
According to Jesus it's not quite like that:


"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
"if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross 
and follow me. For whoever wants to safe his life will lose it, but whoever 
lose his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a
man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:34-38)

OK so was He talking about some of the disciples going to be martyred?
Or is something going on here?
Well the Jesus in the gospels said and did pretty astounding things.
He cast out demons, healed the sick.
He confounded the teaches of the law with his arguments.
Then confounded everyone by dying on a cross
And being resurrected
(though most ppl didn't recognise the meaning of that at the time).
He even taught that not only his disciples
but other believers would do crazy things in his name.

Do I believe it?
Will I take hold of the things He is calling me to do?
Do I even want to know what  God is calling me to do?
Will I get excited by the dreams and visions
He may have put in my heart years ago?
Or will my dissolutioned state and my doubts
stop me from pushing forward.
Maybe I think 'he hasn't pulled through before,'
So I decide I will bumble along like Robyn instead.
Maybe I'll take the less risky option,
Of not chasing the dreams buried deep in my heart,
just in case it doesn't turn out.

Several times in the gospels Jesus talks about
'seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding' (Matt 13:14)
(see also Mark 8:17-18, Luke 10:23-24, Matt 13:13-15)
My prayer today is that me and my generation would
Really perceive and understand the heart of God for
Such a time as this.

I'm not sure what that really means,
But I want to figure that out in my life.
What is He doing in our workplaces?
In our homes?
In our neighbourhoods?
Where is the Spirit directing me?

Lord help me to really see and really hear,
Help me to be humble and dependant like a child,
Help me to love you no matter what.
Amen.

Being an adrenaline junkie can be unhelpful for our relationship with God

No-one can make you (not even God) spend time in His Presence. You have to make that time. 

 

Be Still And Know that I am God (Ps 46:10)

Even now I have to remind myself on a weekly basis, 'don't do too much!' Sometimes I find this hugely frustrating. I have friends who manage to fill so much into their days and sleep hardly at all. 'Not fair!' I think sometimes. 

Over the last two days I have been thinking how actually a slower way of life can be a lot healthier for our relationship with God. Hearing God in the 'fast lane' is not easy unless you can hear Him in the 'slow lane.' I'm learning year by year that slowing down and spending time alone is important if I'm going to hear God clearly. Yes we can hear God in the fast lane, but unless we can practice hearing him in the slow lane when we are on our own, we will not be able to hear him in the former.

I think in this day and age when we don't have many commitments and responsibilities (at least not at the young age my parents did) its easy to live an adrenaline junkie filled life. The world is our oyster, we can do anything, go anywhere. But this restless jumping from one activity to another doesn't enable us to stop and take life seriously, asking God 'What do you really want of me in this time, in this season?'

So can I encourage you and me to STOP!

"Lord help us to slow down and make time to hear Your voice in this new year of 2012. Help us to enjoy Your  amazing presence and take time to be still and to tune in, to get away from others and the distracting activities that stop us from taking time out with You. We acknowledge that You are Present all the time and we are sorry for when we don't make time to hear Your voice. We love you Lord Jesus. Please speak to us this 2012 as we choose to carve out time to talk with You. Amen."

Old Testament narratives were not written primarily to us

One of the greatest learning curves for me at Bible College in my Old Testament lectures is this:

Read the Old Testament narratives (stories) in their original context first

You may think 'doh...yeah...obvious!!' But it is very easy for us to read into scripture what really isn't there. I suggest that we do this in three ways primarily:

1. Firstly we read scripture as if it was specifically written to us. Fee & Stuart (2003) put it like this:

"Perhaps the single most useful bit of caution we can give you about reading and learning from narratives is this: do not be a monkey see, monkey do reader of the Bible. No biblical narrative was specifically written about you" (p105).

Even with the divine help of reading scripture through the Holy Spirit's guidance that does not take away from the fact that narrative scripture - and particularly Old Testament narrative -  was written to a particular people with a particular world view. If we read scripture with a primary attitude of 'what is God saying to me today through this passage' we miss what God was saying for the original hearers. This causes us to often miss out on a great deal of truth the Bible can teach us.

2. Secondly we can read our theological doctrines into scriptural narrative. This is very common particularly in evangelical and charistmatic churches (I would suggest!). The teaching cab be focused primarily on application rather exposition. We might decide we have a certain doctrine say on healing or the atonement. We would then pick scriptures that back our theology on that and conveniently ignore those which don't (please I am generalising in order to get the point accross!).

3. We often read New Testament theology into Old testament narratives before looking at its original context for the Hebrew people. What do I mean by this? In many ways we cannot avoid reading the Old Testament in light of our understanding of the gospel. Since we were born after Christ came we have a different understanding of God and of salvation. Also many of the New Testament disciples and apostles like Paul quoted Old Testament passages in their writings showing the links between Old and New. However it is still important to read the Old Testament narratives in light of the context for the original hearers before bringing our New Testament theology and gospel straight in there. For examples the narrative story of Joseph is primarily about Joseph, the narrative story of Job is about a figure called Job. You may laugh! But us evangelicals we can go 'no it's actually all about Jesus' because we see the links between Old Testament characters and the personhood of Christ. But if we do that without looking at the original context we again often miss out other truths and might I suggest make some severe theological errors.


So what are the dangers of the above?
1. We can be in the danger of reading scripture very selectively. Those scriptures that support our theological doctrine or worldview we accept and those we don't we conveniently skip.

2. If we ignore the worldview of the time and it's historical anbd literary context we can actually read Old Testament narratives and totally miss the point! Scary thought.

3. We can read scripture rather selfishly - what is it saying to me? What is it saying to support my doctrine? What is it saying to my church? Don't get me wrong application of scipture to contemporary contexts is important but firsty we look at its context for the original hebrew hearers who had a completley different worldview to ours.

So here are a few things to recognise when reading Old Testament Narratives which I've taken from Fee & Stuarts book 'How to read the Bible for all its worth (2003, p106).

• An Old  Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine 
• Narratives record what happened - not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time
• What people do in a narrative is not necessarily a good example for us
• All narratives are selective and incomplete
• Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions
• God is the hero of all biblical narrative!

Anyway in order to illustrate my points with examples I will blog on this further. 

But the key is I think we do the above because we do not have access to suitable materials in order to study the bible affectively. Please don't think you have to go to Bible college in order to be able to read the Bible in its historical and cultural context. Sometimes its about knowing the tools out their to help us out. Just as a GP doesn't know all the medications and their side-effects off by heart but they have the appropriate reference books to hand.


Two excellent books written by Biblical scholars and which are great staples to have and also very accessable reads are.


'How to read the bible for all its worth' by Gordon D Fee & Douuglas Stuart (2003)
(please note if you have an older copy it is worth getting the latest addition as they have made many changes, particular in relation to biblical translation)


'How to read the Bible book by book' by the same authors (2002)


The great thing about Fee and Stuart is that they are bilbical scholars primarily and not theologians. Also each specailises on different parts of the bible - one on New Testament and the other Old. Furthermore they also have a reference section at the end of the first book mentioned above. This adds a great list of other commentaries you can get hold of e.g. Gordon Wenham who is a key biblical scholar on Genesis.

Building community in a rootless world: where is home?

What is Home? How can we identify 'home' when we live in such a mobile culture? How can we live out 'community' getting to know those around us and building relationships in a continuously transitional world?
Some thoughts to start us off...........

'Home Sweet Home'
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home, home, sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home, oh, there's no place like home! ........

How sweet 'tis to sit 'neath a fond father's smile,
And the caress of a mother to soothe and beguile!
Let others delight mid new pleasures to roam,
But give me, oh, give me, the pleasures of home.
Home, home, sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home, oh, there's no place like home!

To thee I'll return, overburdened with care;
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there;
No more from that cottage again will I roam;
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
Home, home, sweet, sweet, home!
There's no place like home, oh, there's no place like home! 

(Parts of Poem 'Home sweet home' by John Howard Payne, 1979-1852)
 
 Quote
"Maybe the single most important thing we can do if we want to grow spiritually is to stay in the place we are." (From book: The Wisdom of Stability - Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by J Wilson Hartgrove)

........I've always had quite an adventurous spirit. Something I think I inherited from my darling mother! I love to travel and I always imagined myself having quite a nomadic lifestyle moving from place to place (maybe country to country) in my life. I love exploring. I love meeting people from different cultures and with different backgrounds. But something in me is changing. How can I explain?

Let's start with the Poem. John Payne obviously lived in a different time period to us and as I read his poem I reflected on the differences in today's world. How many people identify 'home' with 'A fond father's smile' or 'a caress of a mother.' How many people identify home as being 'sweet place' which is unchanging. In this climate, Christian family or not, there are a lot more broken homes. Furthermore if you have lived in a lot of places, you may not associate home with where your parents live (especially as an adult). My family lives all over the world - Ireland, Switzerland, Kenya, Canada and my parents live in another part of England to me, somewhere I have never permanently lived myself. In Payne's time I imagine that most people did not travel that far away and probably had brothers, sisters and friends all living locally.

With the rise of Facebook and the internet life is changing. I realise that my generation was probably the last to remember 'life without internet' or when people first got mobile phones. Not only do people live and move with regularity but our technology for communication and relationship building can often be superficial with out mobile culture. Now you can get the latest Apple phone which you can not only tell it to ring someone but tell it to write the text message for you! Heaven forbid you would want to talk to that person, besides you are far to busy. So let the phone do it! Also if I might suggest, we are breeding a generation of 'restless' people. I sense in me a restlessness I could not explain until recently. Is this restlessness a product of being in this mobile and transitional culture?

In J Wilson-Hartgrow's book he addresses the issues of the mobile culture and sees wisdom in rooting ourselves in a community for a long period of time. He looks at the issues of boredom, achievement and idolatry as being consequences (or causes of) this mobile culture. Perhaps a bit harsh? I'm not sure but I certainly think boredom and achievement can be part of the 'restlessness.' The media and every advertisement around us all encourage us to earn good money, get a brilliant career and look fabulous. This is not just part of the secular world. I've met too many people in churches whose ambitions only circulate around work. Once they have got to the top of the ladder and have a nice big house then they will be happy. God doesn't condone  or encourage laziness (Ecclesiastes 9:10) and stewardship is a good thing. But it is worth asking, 'what will I have to show when my work and my house turns to dust' (Matthew 6:20) - heaven is not a place where we will be boasting about our achievements.

But moving on. Where does this restlessness come from? I think the root of the restlessness is thinking 'there is something better around the corner.' Even as I'm at Bible College I find myself trying not to think 'what is round the corner, will I meet someone? What will I do next year?' Part of this restlessness, as has been said, may be rooted in the false ideologies of achievement and success. But another thing I've observed in Christendom and the secular world is this attitude that 'life is all a party.' Don't get me wrong I think that we should have fun. I love spontaneity. I have a motorbike which I love to ride around and one could say I’m risking my life unnecessarily. Its good to have fun but I don't want to waste this life on triviality. I think people grow up a lot later these days. Life is a party, they have fewer responsibilities. Every now and again, its good for us to stop and think, 'where am I headed?' However neither do I want to always thinking about what is ahead and working out my selfish ideals and not enjoying the present. The pace of this life and mobile culture is that very few have the time for 'now.' God is in the now. Building relationships is in the now. 

In his quote above, Wilson-Hartgrove suggests that stability is good for our spirituality. He suggests that because we move from place to place we are not so easily able to impact the world around us, the community in which we live. What community?! I mean the neighbour next door, the person along the street. The beggar sitting on the roadside. If our world is so wrapped up in work, house, mortgage, our small world and successes, how can we carrying out Jesus' presence into the world and live in the 'now’? It is worth noting in Jesus life that he lived in a very small and closely difined area yet his ministry impacted the whole world. When we love the person in front of us it should have a ripple effect.

When I lived back down south (I have recently moved) I continually felt that the pressures of work and church involvement prevented me having time for my neighbours (yes even church, ironic!). It was lovely though when i went home recently to go visit one of my neighbours and have her throw her arms around me tearily. I often felt I didn't see her enough but for her to be so warm with me showed me the value of building friendship with our neighbours. But I was also saddened to think that really she was the only neighbour I had had time to really get to know. There are lots of lonely people out there but do we have the time to engage with them?

And so I think my attitudes are changing. I'm realising the importance of stability. Even as a single person without family responsibilities, there is wisdom in stability. Not all may be called to stay in one place but perhaps we all need to consider it. Perhaps our relationships and families would be less broken if more Christians learnt to live this way. Wilson-Hargrove makes another quote, "Stability is a commitment to trust God not in an ideal world, but in the battered and bruised world we know." Part of the problem with achievement and success is this sense 'we have to make everything better.' But we know the world is battered and bruised, are we going to ignore it or engage with it?

So when I went back to my home town two weeks ago (that is the place I have lived the most in my life - though no biological family there now!) I realised that I'd been homesick for the place. Not the buildings, the people. I had lots of family there made up of my friends, particularly those in my church and previous workplaces. I felt like God say to me, 'would you come back here if I asked you too?' I thought to myself, 'God I was always supposed to go away to Bible College and never come back I was supposed to travel here and there and everywhere!' Then I thought to myself, why? Why did I feel this restless need to not go back. Why this need to move about and not be rooted? Because actually it does not help me build community and be Jesus' presence to the world if I'm permanently mobile. The funny thing is out of all the people in that town I miss the most, my dear elderly neighbour is one of them. The effects of community!

"Lord help me to enjoy where God has placed me now, to build up relationships here and to learn to enjoy your presence and be your presence to the community you have placed me in. Lord show me the community you wish me to be rooted in the future. Take away the restless side of me that is not of You. Help me to realise what things are eternal and what things are worthless in Your eyes. And thank you for the web of family and friends I have. They are so precious to me. Amen"