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.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Friday, 13 January 2012
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."
"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."
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
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).
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.
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!
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.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
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"
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"
Friday, 28 October 2011
Many winds but One Voice
I've been thinking this week about listening to God's voice and the Presence of God. I've been feeling a bit spiritually dry the last few weeks and struggling to hear the Lords voice. Being in a new environment without the familiarity of people you know well and starting a new course, I've found myself doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about where God is taking me next in life. Thinking about the wonderful things I'm learning on the course. It is easy to find oneself drifting into thinking about the future or abstract things and not enjoying the moment.
Last weekend I was wrestling with lots of ideas about engaging with community and mission and what I'd read and heard about this. Whatever I do in the future I want to learn to engage with my community. To live out the gospel not with words but action, with everyday people on the street, my neighbours, the sick, the tired, the poor (spiritually, physically…) and whatever community God puts me in. I was thinking about all the different ways of doing community and wrestling with all the different ideologies I'd been learning in my module on Spirit and Church in a Mission Context. I'd been researching different approaches to church; seeker-sensitive, New Monasticism etc.. and also looking at Church history and its affect on mission and New Testament passages on these things. It was all fascinating stuff. But one night I realised "I just need your voice Lord!"
I found myself saying, "Lord its all very well thinking about these things but how do you know which is the right way? I don't want to just learn, I want to put the things I learn into practice! And Lord why can't I hear your voice?" Then its like the words of the Lord just fell on me some sort of revelation, like sweet water to my soul and it went something like this,
"There are many winds out there...lots of different ways of thinking, philosophies, ideologies…..and these winds change with culture and time. There is often truth in these winds. But if you follow these you will be tossed around on the sea….from one idea to the next. But I want you to bend you're ear to the winds and listen to My still small voice...often quieter than all the others. My voice is timeless; it doesn't change with yesterday, today and tomorrow because I AM who I am. When you hear my voice you will know the way you have to go. My voice brings discernment and wisdom. It enables you not to be tossed from one idea to the next...or one neighbours difficulty to the next…..for you will be able to discern what is true and know what path I want you to take. You will know who I want you to draw near to as you learn to increasingly hear my voice."
The following day I received an email from a friend with the scripture Proverbs 19v21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
On Tuesday of this week we heard a talk from the Principle of the college on the Presence of God and listening to Him and waiting in His Presence. I was like "OK Lord I'm getting the message now!" Alan quoted Exodus 33v13-18 and particularly the verse where Moses says, "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." He also referred to Gabriel in Luke when he appears to Zechariah (1v18-20) and the angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the Presence of God...." He said that the Greek for servant means "to stand by". Alan said living in the anointing of God is about learning to 'stand by' in the presence of God. He said "people are in such a hurry that they don't take time to listen...we learn to wait for commodity but not for the Lord." He went on to speak about how there is value in waiting on God. It is a frightening thing because it means your life is not ordered or patterned out! You’re not in control!
He went on to quote Exodus 24v12, "The Lord said to Moses, 'come up to me on the mountain and stay there...." Let’s not be present but absent to the voice of God. We only come alive by understanding and knowing the voice of God. Alan talked of his experience of ministry and said it is always about being a servant and a true servant learns to stand in the presence of God and partner with him, learning to anticipate what is required.
So is hearing the voice of God all rosy and easy for me now?!!! No certainly not! But My hunger is being awakened again, like the psalmist in chapter 63 v1 who says, “my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” I want to be like the boy Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 and eagerly say, “Speak God your servant is listening!” Please make me long for Your presence Lord, more than anything else. For Your Voice above all the others. Amen.
Last weekend I was wrestling with lots of ideas about engaging with community and mission and what I'd read and heard about this. Whatever I do in the future I want to learn to engage with my community. To live out the gospel not with words but action, with everyday people on the street, my neighbours, the sick, the tired, the poor (spiritually, physically…) and whatever community God puts me in. I was thinking about all the different ways of doing community and wrestling with all the different ideologies I'd been learning in my module on Spirit and Church in a Mission Context. I'd been researching different approaches to church; seeker-sensitive, New Monasticism etc.. and also looking at Church history and its affect on mission and New Testament passages on these things. It was all fascinating stuff. But one night I realised "I just need your voice Lord!"
I found myself saying, "Lord its all very well thinking about these things but how do you know which is the right way? I don't want to just learn, I want to put the things I learn into practice! And Lord why can't I hear your voice?" Then its like the words of the Lord just fell on me some sort of revelation, like sweet water to my soul and it went something like this,
"There are many winds out there...lots of different ways of thinking, philosophies, ideologies…..and these winds change with culture and time. There is often truth in these winds. But if you follow these you will be tossed around on the sea….from one idea to the next. But I want you to bend you're ear to the winds and listen to My still small voice...often quieter than all the others. My voice is timeless; it doesn't change with yesterday, today and tomorrow because I AM who I am. When you hear my voice you will know the way you have to go. My voice brings discernment and wisdom. It enables you not to be tossed from one idea to the next...or one neighbours difficulty to the next…..for you will be able to discern what is true and know what path I want you to take. You will know who I want you to draw near to as you learn to increasingly hear my voice."
The following day I received an email from a friend with the scripture Proverbs 19v21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
On Tuesday of this week we heard a talk from the Principle of the college on the Presence of God and listening to Him and waiting in His Presence. I was like "OK Lord I'm getting the message now!" Alan quoted Exodus 33v13-18 and particularly the verse where Moses says, "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." He also referred to Gabriel in Luke when he appears to Zechariah (1v18-20) and the angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the Presence of God...." He said that the Greek for servant means "to stand by". Alan said living in the anointing of God is about learning to 'stand by' in the presence of God. He said "people are in such a hurry that they don't take time to listen...we learn to wait for commodity but not for the Lord." He went on to speak about how there is value in waiting on God. It is a frightening thing because it means your life is not ordered or patterned out! You’re not in control!
He went on to quote Exodus 24v12, "The Lord said to Moses, 'come up to me on the mountain and stay there...." Let’s not be present but absent to the voice of God. We only come alive by understanding and knowing the voice of God. Alan talked of his experience of ministry and said it is always about being a servant and a true servant learns to stand in the presence of God and partner with him, learning to anticipate what is required.
So is hearing the voice of God all rosy and easy for me now?!!! No certainly not! But My hunger is being awakened again, like the psalmist in chapter 63 v1 who says, “my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” I want to be like the boy Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 and eagerly say, “Speak God your servant is listening!” Please make me long for Your presence Lord, more than anything else. For Your Voice above all the others. Amen.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
I breathe you in God, I choose you
Wow! It is the end of week three of college. It is really strange moving into a different way of life..studying, and moving to a new place and with different people. But I think I'm slowly getting used to it;) I felt quite homesick last week for a few days which surprised me. I was so excited about living in a new place. However I realised what super friends I'd left behind. After all I've been a southerner since I was two!
This week though I've got plugged into a new church and had an opportunity to practice with the worship team and join a mid week house group. I've also been able to do some wonderful exploring of the countryside and enjoy some facinating lectures. This term I have modules on the 'Old Testament' and 'Spirit and Church in a Mission Context.' I feel like lectures are completely and utterley widening my view-finder in terms of my understanding of scripture, church and the Lord. It's such a priveledge to be studying.
I started blogging about some of these lectures last night but felt God tug at my heart to blog about something closer to home, what he has been stirring inside me these last few weeks. I think it is best summed by two passages I have literally just read a few minutes ago in Rees Howells book 'Intercessor'. Rees originally founded the college when it was in Wales earlier in the 20th century. He says this,
"No natural love is in the same world as His love. It was not merely that the Saviour helped me outside Himself; no, He took my place. I saw every other love so rough in comparison." (page 30)
"He (the Holy Spirit) made it very plain that He would never share my life..... The change He would make was very clear. It meant every bit of my fallen nature was to go to the Cross, and He would bring in His own life and His own nature. It was unconditional surrender" (38-39)
Above describes Rees stages to accepting the Holy Spirit to live in His life,some years after he became a Christian. I recieved the Holy Spirit into my life much earlier than Rees and perhaps I didn't see the reality of the decision I made to recieve Him quite so clearly as Rees did. When the Lord made it evident to Rees the changes that the Spirit would have to make in His life, he spent 5 days on His knees deciding whether to allow the Spirit in!!! As Rees said, "I'd lived in my body for 26 years, and could I easily give it up!?" (p30)
Even if you have received the Holy Spirit at a young age you need to continually surrender to Him and allow His nature and will to absorb every part of you. These last two weeks I have felt, and if I'm honest still feel that my human self is at war with the Spirit over a particular issue in my life. I believe I'm still in the surrendering process regarding this particular matter. I was reminded of these verses in Song of Solomon
ch 8 v6-7;
"For love is as strong as death,
its jealously unyeileding as the grave.
It burns like a blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away. "
I felt God remind me that only His love is as powerful as the grave and He is jealous for my heart to only desire Him and Him above anything else. He wants me to set Him as a 'seal apon my heart' (Song of Solomon 8v6). He reminded me that as Rees recognised; no natural love and the things of this world can compare with Our Saviour's love. Anything else that takes the place of Jesus is an idol. I feel like God is continually asking me, "Pips I want to be your consuming desire and Only Me....I want you to love me above anything else you desire."
This song below has been capturing my heart over the last few days...especailly the last verse. We choose God and Him alone even when we don't understand our circumstances. That is faith. We don't wait for Him to come through over a matter before we choose Him. (you're probably thinking 'Al you blog about is surrendering to Christ!' It does seem to be that way. Maybe that is what life is all about.) If I could but change one line of this song it would be line 3. I don't think we can change ourselves, we need to be willing to be changed but it is the Holy Spirit that does the deep work in us.
This song below has been capturing my heart over the last few days...especailly the last verse. We choose God and Him alone even when we don't understand our circumstances. That is faith. We don't wait for Him to come through over a matter before we choose Him. (you're probably thinking 'Al you blog about is surrendering to Christ!' It does seem to be that way. Maybe that is what life is all about.) If I could but change one line of this song it would be line 3. I don't think we can change ourselves, we need to be willing to be changed but it is the Holy Spirit that does the deep work in us.
"The presence of the Living God
It satisfies the depths of my heart
And all of me I change when you came
And I'm led free by Your glory and grace
And I breathe You in,God
Cos You are there all around me........
The kindness of Your love's pure light
Pierces through the darkest of all night
And everything is possible now
For God is here
And God is good
It satisfies the depths of my heart
And all of me I change when you came
And I'm led free by Your glory and grace
And I breathe You in,God
Cos You are there all around me........
The kindness of Your love's pure light
Pierces through the darkest of all night
And everything is possible now
For God is here
And God is good
...........And when I don't understand
I will choose You
And when I dont understand
I will choose to love You, God"
I will choose You
And when I dont understand
I will choose to love You, God"
("I breathe you in, God" by Bryan & Katie Torwalt (to play song follow this link)
Thursday, 6 October 2011
A new season.....
Am I crazy i thought? Driving around a town I don't know, with a tyre that might go down at any minute and no phone on me. Was it a sign I was pretty nuts to have a bike in the first place? Probably:) After various wrong turns and mishaps I found myself back at the college, only to notice another garage much closer to home! The guy at the garage reckoned it wasn't a punture but that the tyre wasn't fitted properly and there was a leak on the seal. I'm hoping that the tyre will stay up long enough for me to drive the 12 miles to the garage I bought it from in the next day or too. It seems I need a good old rant with the guy I got it from...who also needs to fit a centre stand (which should have come anyway), and amongst other things find out how to open the seat so I can get the manual out, sort the dashboard which doesn't show when you signal, stop it reverring to 4000 in 1st...etc....... Thank God for a warranty!
However I shouldn't complain cos today I got some great driving done and practice. As I started going outside the town, I enjoyed the sun shining accross the meadows and the amazing feel of the wind, the best bit about riding. It was also an amazing gift to have been bought the bike, something I couldn't have done alone.
So though I wasted a morning of study I am thankful that the Lord was with me and I managed to get plenty done this afternoon. So yes I have moved up north. I'm now studying theology and live in central England. I'm enjoying the change from work though I did enjoy working in Psychiatry. Living in a new place also means new places to explore and new people to meet. The Bible college is in a great little town and shares a building with a church which I've enjoyed attending so far. There are only about 20 people in all three years - two thirds of which commute in, some from quite far as all the lectures are on Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the time is ministry experience and self directed study. As the course is non-residential, people live in and around the town. I'm staying with a lovely girl who is similar in age and we seem to have a lot of things in common.
Now that freshers week is finished and the studying begins I'm beginning to take stock of where I am. Having 3 days of the week away from lectures means you do have to be organised with your time so you do study. It also means a challenge for building community when so many live away from the town. There are only about 7 of us that actually live locally. Some of us are meeting for coffee tomorrow which will be nice, and perhaps think too about how we can continue to meet in the week when we are not in lectures, to keep up community and compare how we are getting on in our studies.
Today I recieved a lovely gift in the post. A beautifully done album of black and white photos of the town down south, where I've come from. It choked me up inside to see such a precious gift made by two friends of mine. It also bought home to me what great friends I have back home. I had to remind myself that getting to know firends in new places takes time (after all I've only been here two weeks!) so not to feel sad about leaving but look forward to new adventures, knowing I will be able to keep in touch with my exisiting friends too.
Well now I think I'll settle down to a non-academic book for the evening, Amber the cat is doing little snores next to me on the sofa, completely confused by this added addition to the household!
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