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Quote of the Week # 3

2010-11-30T20:17:00.001Z

"A cask of wine works more miracles than a church full of saints!"

This was on our service order this week!

Parable of the Unjust Judge

2010-09-02T11:46:00.003+01:00

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about human beings. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about people, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

I know this will seem obvious to most people, but I was really struck, when reading this parable recently, at how much it was about justice and liberation. I had always read it as a slightly odd tale about prayer - comparing God to an unjust judge never really seemed to work for me. But, recently I have become aware of unjust judges everywhere - judges who send asylum seekers back to countries where they are threatened with their lives; this judge, who acquitted an Israeli soldier after emptying his rifle into a Palestinian school girl. The parable appears, in this light, to be about the power of nagging unjust officials - apartheid ended because the international community kept going on and on about it. It is also about a conviction that justice is on its way because God is committed to justice. As Martin Luther King said, "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice". Keep nagging unjust officials and believe in God's commitment to justice. Is that what its saying?

Quote of the Week # 2

2010-08-31T15:55:00.002+01:00

In view of the excellent debate at the Greenbelt Festival this weekend on boycotting Israeli products, this quote comes to mind:

"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want." (Anna Lappe)

For those interested in boycotting Israeli goods, the key website is here.

Quote of the Week # 1

2010-08-26T09:39:00.003+01:00

I have a Solomon-like fascination with great quotes that sum up truth in a pithy, often humorous way (all other comparisons with Solomon I deny!). I will try to post my favourite ones from time to time and encourage others to do the same and comment on them, if they wish). Here is the first:

"I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." (Nelson Mandela)

To fight or not to fight!

2010-08-26T08:21:00.005+01:00

Mandela's, 'Long walk to Freedom' has been my summer reading this year and I've certainly enjoyed it. While reading it, I was constantly aware that this is only one side of the story, but it is, nonetheless, the most important and fascinating side of the story. Mandela was, without doubt, a great leader, always breaking new ground.

Mandela inevitably draws comparisons with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but there are two glaring differences between Mandela and these two great leaders. Unlike King and Gandhi, Mandela was not religious and was not committed to non-violence - the two were no doubt connected.

Mandela regarded himself as a Methodist and noted, in his early years, if anything good was being done in South Africa it was invariably done by the church. However, religion did not appear to play a significant part in his life or in the motivation for his action. In fact, no ideology controls Mandela. He comes across as a pragmatist. He does not think in universal terms - peace and justice was certainly his goal, but this could mean violence and injustice might be necessary in the process. This is evident in probably the only paragraph in the book I found distasteful. Writing about the killing of nineteen civilians in 1983, he said,

"I felt profound horror at the death toll. But disturbed as I was by these casualties, I knew that such accidents were the inevitable consequence of the decision to embark on a military struggle. Human fallibility is always a part of war, and the price of it is always high. " (p.617-618)

Mandela was, in my view, a man of peace. He held South Africa back from the brink of civil war, but was willing to use violence to achieve this peace. The reason, he said, was that there was no constitutional outlet for non-violence,

"I told them [reporters] that the conditions in which Martin Luther King struggled were totally different from my own: the United States was a democracy with constitutional guarantees of equal rights that protected non-violent protest... South Africa was a police state with a constitution that enshrined inequality and an army that responded to non-violence with force. I told them I was a Christian and had always been a Christian. Even Christ, I said, when he was left with no alternative, used force to expel the moneylenders from the temple. He was not a man of violence, but had no choice but to use force against evil. I do not think I persuaded them." (p.620)

I don't think he persuades me either! A great leader he may have been, a theologian, he certainly was not! Whether Christ was "left with no alternative" is a moot point. He certainly didn't kill nineteen people! What's more, Jesus was confronted by a regime much more violent and oppressive than South Africa's, with absolutely no outlet for non-violent protest, and all the evidence suggests he did not advocate violence. Strikingly, King in his sermon on 'The Meaning of Non-violence' shared the view that violence is sometimes necessary in less constitutional contexts than the US. I remain undecided.

Leaving aside the universalism of King and Gandhi, simply on the pragmatic question of whether violence worked in South Africa, I also remain to be convinced. Did it bring the peace closer or hold it back? It certainly added to the lack of international support for Mandela.

Despite these reservations about Mandela's support of violence, I heartily recommend the book as inspiring and thought-provoking, if you've got the time to wade through it.

Revenge

2010-08-24T19:31:00.002+01:00

This is not quite forgiveness, but it is a moving decision not to demonize the aggressor.

Tears of Gaza

2010-08-21T21:23:00.004+01:00

I thought this speech by Chris Hedges was excellent. He mentions Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish. Abuelaish shot to notoriety when Israeli TV had lined him up (a Palestinian doctor) to talk about the situation in Gaza. I guess he was a safe bet as he worked with Israelis and Palestinians. However, on live TV he tells the audience that his home has just been hit by a tank shell and his three daughters killed. (see here) He has since only spoken of forgiveness and reconciliation. He has a book out in January I'm hoping to buy.

A Burning Light, a Cloud, a Voice

2010-08-09T19:37:00.002+01:00

On 6th August the church celebrates the Feast of Transfiguration. It reminds us of the story of Jesus climbing a mountain with his closest friends. There was a dazzling light, a cloud that overshadowed them, and they were terrified by the cloud, and a voice.

6th August is also the anniversary of a less auspicious event. On 6th August 1945, someone climbed, not a holy mountain, but into the cockpit of a plane - and dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. 150,000 people were killed. Other people later died from the effects of atomic radiation. 75,000 buildings were destroyed. The world has never been the same.

There was a voice booming from heaven. Here, too, was brightness, brilliant as burning magnesium. Here, too, a cloud that has come and has covered us all with its shadow. Truly, under the shadow of this new cloud, we are right to feel afraid.

Look at the shape of that cloud. It is the new tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We have eaten of its fruit and we shall never be the same again. Our good knowledge of the workings of God's beautiful creation has been turned to evil and annihilation.

We should pray and work for a nuclear free world. As Britain, inscrutably, renews its nuclear arsenal, let us protest, conscious that Jesus would say today: "you have learnt that nuclear war is evil, but I say this to you, do not war at all, do not hate, do not harbour a grudge, do not envy, do not bully, do not gossip for all these are the seeds of which the bomb is but the fruit".

We commemorate Hiroshima day, world peace day, by telling again the story of another climb, another light, another voice, another cloud. Jesus was speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. The cloud of evil hung over Jesus, just as it does us, but he was not overcome by it. Evil does not have the final word, and so it is today. Let us not be overcome by evil – either in ourselves or in the world.

Adapted from here.

Islam & the Media

2010-08-08T22:35:00.002+01:00

I made this video for school when we discuss the media's portrayal of Islam. I thought I'd share it.

Breaking the silence!

2010-05-01T22:19:00.010+01:00

It would need something pretty special to break my recent silence on this blog, but I guess the shooting of three children in their school is a pretty good reason. During my recent visit to Palestine, I went to a school where three pupils had been shot through the head the previous week for looking towards a Jewish settlement. In another school, one teacher left early to receive his son home from prison, after 18 months without charge. Another young prisoner was not so lucky. He had been beaten to death. I could go on... The situation in Palestine is much much worse than I ever imagined. Most of the men appear to have been in prison, for no other reason than being Palestinians. The ones I met were good people and certainly not terrorists.

On leaving 'Israel', I had everything in my suitcase taken out in front of everyone. Everything was read and I was questioned about it all - I was 2 hours being interrogated. I felt so angry at the intrusion into my privacy. Then I recalled how Palestinians had complained about soldiers coming into their house - always at night - searching and interrogating. I got a sense of the resentment they must feel.

But what am I doing about it? I knew before I left that I would come home and become absorbed by the mundane. And, I've been proved right. The people out there are desperate for the West to do something, telling me in no uncertain terms, that they wanted me to take the message back to Britain. So, this is a first attempt to break the silence about Palestine. Please help me in doing so, and don't let me forget it.

I remember the protests and collective condemnation of South Africa in the 1980s. But, what is happening in Palestine is much more than apartheid (which it is), it is ethnic cleansing in slow motion. Where is the collective spirit of protest?

What to do? The International Solidarity Movement

Sheffield Solidarity Movement

Boycott Israeli Goods (eg. M&S)

Read Frankie Boyle's challenge about Palestine.

Ask me more!

By the way, the picture at the top is of a house from which Palestinians have been evicted. Their homes are now lived in by Israelis, while the original occupants live in a tent outside. As the Israelis go in and out of the house they taunt the 'former' owners (I witnessed this myself), apparently to provoke an incident. Apparently, they started throwing stones at one - an 87 year old woman the week before I was there. More photos here.

Cartooning in Conflict

2010-01-12T20:29:00.005Z

I was really impressed when I first came across the 'Parents Circle' - bereaved Palestinians and Israelis getting together to promote reconciliation as an alternative to hatred and revenge. Yesterday they opened an exhibition in London, "Cartooning in Conflict". I've posed a couple of my favourite cartoons above. See here for more info.

Having sex for virginity!

2009-11-17T19:02:00.003Z

I was very proud of one of my pupils today as I marked her work. She wrote:

"I believe all war is pointless and avoidable. It is my belief that fighting for peace is like having sex for virginity. Once a war begins, peace is already lost."

Go Girl!

Needless to say, she has sanitised this for my ears. The original version of this phrase is somewhat more graphic!

10 step plan for peace!

2009-11-11T20:04:00.004Z

When talking to Palestinians recently, they said that most people in their country had lost any sense of hope. They saw no possibility of peace talks ever giving a fair deal to Palestine, because it is always a discussion between unequal parties. This loss of hope is leading to ever more radicalisation, which only makes matters worse.

Despite saying all this, I liked the video below because I felt that what is being presented is a fair, equitable solution to the Palestinian situation. Will it ever happen? I think we have to believe sometimes, because we have no alternative.

This video is a little long, but for anyone interested in the Palestinian crisis I recommend 02.57 - 23.20. At the end a Jewish theologian makes a point which is very similar to my post here:

"Christians don't know how to stand up to Jews when they're wrong... What is it about Christians? What is it about Christianity?"

Remembering War!

2009-11-08T18:30:00.009Z

I have long felt uneasy about some of the ways Remembrance Sunday is kept. The language, at times, seems to glorify war. In fact, the term "glorious dead" is frequently heard. The idea that these people have "won our freedom" is also not always true. But, even where there may be some truth in it, it communicates the message about redemptive violence I don't feel entirely comfortable with. For me, remembering should be what it was always intended to be - remembering war so that it would never be repeated. It was instituted so that the First World War would be the 'war to end all wars'.

So, it was very good this morning to hear Jonathan Bartley of Ekklesia, on the radio, echoing some of these same ideas. They have done a full report on the subject, which is worth a read and can be found here.

Christians supporting Israel

2009-11-05T18:36:00.010Z

I love this picture. It was drawn by a pupil in Palestine and given to me as part of the exchange programme we are running. It shows the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the way Palestinians are forbidden access to it, even though it is in their city. This only touches the tip, though, of the human rights abuses Palestinians face on a daily basis. Another picture given to me (since destroyed in the rain) was a picture of a pupil’s home – a tent. His parents were forced out of their homes 40 years ago and are now living in camps. They have lost all rights to their homes and aren’t even allowed to travel into Israel, let alone go back to their home towns. Every day Palestinians face humiliating and intimidating treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers. An enormous wall has been erected around the West Bank. One school we are linked with is on the wrong side of the wall. Each day pupils must go through the wall. It is only open between 7am and 7.30. Sometimes soldiers arrive early and pupils miss getting through. They have to wait at the wall until 2 o’clock before it opens again.

I know a lot of this is familiar to most of you who are reading this, but I just want to make a point about Christian allegiances in this conflict. Many Christians have an instinctive support for Israel, based on the fact that they were the people of God in the Old Testament and that they were promised the land of Israel “for ever as an everlasting possession.” Whatever you think of these promises, and the extent to which they are still applicable today, it seems to me there is one thing we could all agree on: Israel, in the Bible, was never beyond criticism – even damning criticism - when it neglected justice. Jesus called Jerusalem to repentance (Luke 13:34). In fact the promises to Israel were conditional (Lev. 20:22) and in the New Testament, John the Baptist railed at those who claimed exemption from judgement by claiming, "We have Abraham as our father." (Matthew 3:9) We, also, should not support Israel while it engages in the confiscation of property and racial apartheid, simply on the basis that Abraham was their father. It was always the extent to which they followed justice that determined whether or not they were the people of God.

“Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.” (Lev. 20:22)

The Bible and the Postmodern Imagination

2009-10-25T16:23:00.004Z

Having read Brueggemann's book recently - Texts Under Negotiation: The Bible and the Postmodern Imagination - I just want to say that I think it is outstanding. Brueggemann is a brilliant writer and thinker and I think in this book he hits the nail on the head in terms of the direction the church should take and the role of the Bible in the postmodern world. What I like about it is:

He understands the power of the 'story' (or 'propaganda', depending which word you want to use). Advertisers wouldn't spend so much on telling us their story if it didn't matter.

He understands the key role of the Bible in countering that story. If a biblical counter-imagination is not employed, "the Christian congregation will rely on the dominant infrastructure of consumerism." For me, this is why the Bible really matters - the insfrustructure of consumerism is debilitating and dehumanising.

He makes the Bible utterly relevant to our age, without being under the thumb of postmodern preoccupations.

He demonstrates brilliantly the signifance of the Bible as story, rather than a set of propositions.
It is hopeful, yet academically rigerous. So often academia can lead to cynicism and can get caught up in concerns about modernist truth claims. Somehow he remains utterly postmodern, academic, yet faithful and hopeful.

Nothing I have read in ages has inspired me so much. Read it and enjoy.

Sheffield hosts CAP conference

2009-10-23T16:55:00.002+01:00

Redefining prosperity
St Mary's Community Centre, Sheffield

Saturday 14 November 2009, 11am – 4pm
with...Anne Pettifor Leader of Jubilee 2000, author of The Real World Economic Outlook (2003) and The Coming First World Debt Crisis (2006)
Cathy McCormack, Grassroots activist & author of The Wee Yellow Butterfly
Professor Tim Jackson, Sustainable Development Commissioner, author of Prosperity without growth?

An opportunity to think theologically about economics!

“It began with a squeeze, then the squeeze became a crunch and the crunch became a downturn and the downturn became a crisis. A crisis of faith as the temple of Mammon on which we have all sought to build our economic prosperity was tried in the fire of truth, honesty and reality, and was revealed to have shaky foundations. …When the day of reckoning came - and there is always a day of reckoning - the winds of truth blew away the countless houses of cards.” John Sentamu, Archbishop of York

The conference will examine the following questions:
What are the immediate and longer-term impacts of the economic crisis for those directly affected?
Do we need to fundamentally rethink our idea of prosperity?
What can be done to build a major just, equal and sustainable society and economy in future?
What positive contribution can faith communities make?

A donation of £10 waged or £3 unwaged will cover the conference which includes lunch. Please return the booking form, together with your donation (cheques payable to Church Action on Poverty), to the CAP office, Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JQ. – or email janeta@church-poverty.org.uk to reserve your place.

A few things on my mind...

2009-10-04T20:13:00.005+01:00

I'm writing this post because I want to attempt to articulate a few things that are on my mind at the moment. Theology has to relate to real life and answer real questions, so here is my attempt to articulate what is real for me at the moment. I’d really love to be able to engage with others in discussing some of these questions theologically.

Church Having been seriously screwed up by religion and pretty negative of a lot of what I see (not all, by any means) and having had some pretty bad experiences in some churches, I guess I’m pretty surprised that I still believe in church at all. Having not been a part of a community for nearly a year, I’m surprised by how unsettled I feel by being an isolated Christian. Forgetting all the baggage that gets put up around church (and there’s a lot of it!) stripped to its bear essentials I still think it’s a great idea. My take on church is that it is a community of people who choose to come together to be ethically challenged and to be mobilised to take action with that in mind. How good is that? And how relevant to the needs of our age?

But, this is where I struggle… first, there are so few decent churches out there. I’m sorry if I’m just unaware of the good ones and I’m sure there are some out there, but on my tour of churches this year I’ve been disappointed by how far so many are from the ideal I’ve just presented. So many are caught up in modernist baggage which seems to be more about defending the faith and less about equipping people to live.

A bigger struggle is with the way life is structured in the 21^st century. If, like me, you have kids and a full-time job, you have little time for community or even putting your faith into practice. It’s so easy to adopt an individualistic religiosity that does little more than read / write blogs and listen to podcasts on your ipod. To be religious is to be like the Madonna with her ipod!

This last point provokes a lot of questions for me: After all, I’m sure capitalism wants to make me compliant and wants my religion to be private and non-political. I think it has little to gain from giving me time to protest, march, or engage in ethical action that doesn’t involve simply changing my shopping choices. The ‘system’ (whatever that is) has little interest in giving me time for the counter-cultural church I described above. No dominant ideology wants people meeting together to think independently and question.

So, I am in something of a quandary: the reason we need church, is precisely the thing that makes it so difficult. It is the lack of community and the dominance of the capitalist hegemony that means church is so vital and so hard.

I feel compelled to ask questions about what all this means. Yet, here is another quandary: Without a community who is there to help me think these things through theologically and practically? Well, I'm hoping someone in the blogging fraternity might.

I’m sorry, I’ve rambled on a lot and I said at the beginning of this post that I had a ‘few’ things on my mind. I guess I’ll have to leave the others for a later post. So, what's on your mind?

Laugh/Cry/?

2009-09-25T11:50:00.001+01:00

Click it to view it

Do you see this woman?

2009-09-24T17:10:00.002+01:00

It's very easy to go through life and not notice certain groups of people - we can hardly notice the homeless person, the asylum seeker, the psychiatric patient, the violent, the unloved. I guess our whole lives are geared around living in a bubble of middle-class people who cause us no discomfort. It was one of the first things that struck me when I first started teaching - I saw a cross-section of the population - those who would never, with all the will in the world get a GCSE, those who had been burnt, abused. I see the disabled, the young carers, the witnesses of domestic abuse. Yet, now I've been teaching all these years, its easy not to see it.

It is with this in mind that I was struck this week by Ched Myers' take on the story of the woman who washed Jesus' feet. The crux of the story, he argues, is when Jesus turns to the crowd and asks "Do you see this woman?" Here was a woman suffering and oppressed and she is not seen - the political consequences of her actions are seen, but the woman herself is not seen. Jesus called on the religious leaders, just as he calls on us, to see the inconvenient other.

I myself had lived for years with Bibles and commentaries all around me and had not seen - now the challenge is to live with this new insight - an insight that sees, even if inadequately.

Wordless

2009-09-21T13:41:00.006+01:00

Went to 'Reflective Space' at St Oswald's last night (nice to see u Rache) and found myself very conflicted and wrestling with many ambiguous thoughts and feelings, falling into silence and finally reconciliation that for now there is no resolution - just a small light in the darkness that will not be overcome.

Seems like the guys involved in Reflective Space are going to be changing a bit / progressing with maybe some sort of broader network of folk wanting to explore reflection, creativity and ritual - interesting times for those interested in this stuff.

Will keep you posted if and when I hear more and please return the favour.

Quote that's floating round at moment:

“The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of the word is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.” Chuang Tzu

Swamped with worship leaders!

2009-09-20T20:35:00.003+01:00

According to Wlison Carlile College, Sheffield. Last year they had the following training for ministry:

1 Evangelist

3 Pastoral Workers

6 Lay Readers

16 Worship Leaders

What does this tell you about our society? In our celebrity saturated world, everyone wants to be a singer. We certainly have more role models of singers than evangelists. I'm sure most people would rather be Matt Redman than Billy Graham!

What I'd like to see is some activists or prophets on the list. Any better suggestions anyone?

I certainly don't think this is morally neutral. There are consequences for the church in co-opting the values of pop culture.

(S) Hell Garages

2009-09-11T19:47:00.006+01:00

I love this idea. Take a photo of Shell service stations, obscuring the 's' to make 'hell'. These can be sent to Amnesty International who upload them onto the Google maps site. You can also write a review of a garage on Google maps : "They are abusing human rights in the Niger Delta".

And why? They are, as you may have already gathered, abusing human rights in Africa. Click here to see more about the campaign.

Climbing the Jack Nicholson facet of the Atonement

2009-09-08T22:28:00.003+01:00

Not sure why but I was musing on the Cross whilst taking a soak and this clip jumped in my head. I am really appreciative of how different people, different communities and different everyday culture can shed light on a new facet of the biblical story of atonement. Here I feel the impact of the unmasking. That decisive moment where justice comes as a light not a gun, where we finally see through the rhetoric we so often fall for about the 'peace' we enjoy and see it is in fact the opposite of peace. We also realise our own denial, our own complicity, our own will to power we disguise so well - yet the unmasking is the undoing of it all - it will inevitably, mercifully and miraculously crumble from here.

The death and resurrection of Jesus are the unmasking of evil.

Affirming Liberalism

2009-09-05T12:41:00.004+01:00

Check out the two podcasts at 'Affirming Liberalism', particularly the one by Martyn Percy. He argues that churches grow, not by having the right theology (whether Evangelical, Liberal, Emergent), but by getting the simple things right (a warm welcome, relaxed environment, good music and children's work). It gave me hope that an alternative to the churches is possible. What do other people think of his podcast?

The Parable of the Lost Sons

2009-09-03T16:52:00.005+01:00

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them.

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

When he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him; he ran to his son, raised his hand then stopped himself, he tore his robe and began to weep.The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

So the father said to his servants, Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

But first, said the father *, bring the fattened calf and kill it. No, wait, that is not enough. Before we feast and celebrate this son of mine who was dead and is alive again there is one more thing to be done.

The older son was in the field. When he was brought near the house, he heard loud wailing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied, and your father wants to see you.

When the older brother realised his father’s intention he became distraught and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. You never even had to sacrifice a young goat for me. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill for him!

My son, the father said, this is the way of the world.

* Some early manuscripts include the phrase ‘with a grievous sigh’ others record ‘with a solemn determination’

The real story is here

Beer AND Hymns

2009-09-01T22:49:00.011+01:00

If you came from Homebrewed Christianity then Chad nearly got it right - it's beer & hymns... click to find out more from the Jesus Arms and thanks to Eliza for getting this video up so quick - you know you want to be at Greenbelt next year. Tripp and Chad - your tickets will be on the door my friends and perhaps a deacon discount should be arranged?

If you didn't come via the brew boys latest podcast feat us in the intro and then the man LeRon Shults... you should have

Proper festival reflections including the Gooder, Bell and Ugly after I pick up my laptop bag inc ipod etc that I left in Subway in Cheltenham - doooooohhhhhhhhh!

If you were there - what was your Good Bad and Ugly of Greenbelt 09?

take every thought

2009-08-27T14:20:00.003+01:00

'take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ'

From my evangelical background I have always read that in the richness of a devotional tradition that taught me to use this to banish the sinful desires of the flesh. It's a great hook to meditate on when temptation strikes and you need the spirit to bring the focus onto what is good and true and noble etc.

I am thinking now though that there is more to it. Who usually keeps our thoughts and mindset 'captive'. Perhaps it is also a reference to the powerful imperial theology of Rome the was so ubiquitous for these early Christ followers. How easy to forsake 'the way' and be led like a captive in the victory parade of another ideology....for me now as I am captivated by the idea that my value is bound to my consumption, that my own freedom to choose / consume is just and my right, when really it is paid for by the sweat and blood of another.

Its seems now that this is not just about my own 'thoughtlife' (especially the sexual) ie separate from my actions in society but about my mindset in engaging the whole world and the systems of domination that surround us.

So then, I pray the thoughts of my heart may be brought captive, may follow the train and walk to the beat of the liberating love and life of Christ, and enable me to follow the way of transformation, for me and for the world.

selling...buying?

2009-08-26T19:35:00.000+01:00

You may be selling but I ain't buying
You make out it's true but I know your lying
What good it stuff when your crying
What good is consumption when the world is dying
I don't know if I can live up to this
but I'am up for trying

I am mostly thinking...and you?

2009-08-26T11:17:00.005+01:00

Apologies for posting being so infrequent.

At the moment I am most thinking....

Guilt / retributive Justice is not transformational, Grace and distributive Justice is. Not just at systemic level but personal level - walking 'in Christ' in the spirit' is transformational in every 'now'.

How to interpret the poss pseudo Paul bits on the NT where we encounter not the radical Paul but the conservative and anti Paul's

About the wonderful possibility of being 'Called Again' by God in a desert/post-critical place

Revisiting Hosea teaching I did a few years ago and poss sharing it at new Church to inform need to 'green' our big list maintenance work

I am mostly reading/sucking up podcasts on bizarre array! -

John Stott, Process Theology, Bent down Jesus, Paul Riccour, Alan Jamieson, Rita Brock on prostitution (gee arn't I the proud/sad pomo eclectic), Fresh Expressions in Sacramental tradition

Also digging the Israeli funk of The Apples (inc their sweeeet cover of 'Killing in the name of') who are playing...

Greenbelt - really looking foreword to it and catching up with folk over beer & hymns. Also won't miss hasidicish magic of UK's finest, as feat here in 2007 Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip

Whats going on for you?

Maybe see you at GB

Rediscover Bible in Community

2009-08-04T18:56:00.007+01:00

Check out great interview with Tim Conder on Homebrewed Christianity about 'Rediscovering the Bible in Community' and some stories from his church.

Felt big echo of my own dream of church - an open and authentic, contemplative and sacramental community of grace and peace in action.

Love the stuff around on:

Place of christ/spirit/text in community (u know we love respecting the text (God of) round here)

Provisional humility and providing space for faith not control to coerce

Church as transformative organism

Shape and form of Emmaus Way similar to lots of my experience but also combines open ethos, self aware deep church and human diversity and sacramental patterning of life - all of which are kids I would chose to hang with (tooooo.....many.....y...ank....podcasts..lea....ding to 'impiremergant' hegemony....and....use ...of...strreee...t...talk!)

So hey, big up Tripp and Chad (must get us deconsied soon) for continued interstellar blue snowball goodness (just listen a bit) and peace to Emmaus Way. Go buy the book - the angels of amazon are winging mine to me as I type (click book above for link).

Shalom

Anabaptism Today in Yorkshire? 12th Sept

2009-08-03T08:24:00.002+01:00

click logo for details

Care to dance - BMC's recent take on evangelism

2009-08-03T08:10:00.002+01:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5745330950759630992&hl=en

The Man in the Mirror

2009-07-16T21:26:00.009+01:00

The sound of Thriller still haunts my every move around the grounds of our school. Any doubts about the survival of worship in the 21st century have been firmly put to rest by this latest outpouring of affection that I still witness on a daily basis.

School children manage to make an emotional bond with someone they have never met - thanks to the global media. And we all feel able to act as judge and jury - weighing up the pros and cons of a man because we feel we know him.

And isn't this precisely what has torn the man apart - amongst other things our obsession with commenting (judging). He has to either live up to hopelessly unrealistic expectations or feel the gaze of the world on every silly, unwise or possibly 'criminal' act (and there have been plenty of them).

Instead of gazing intently at this celebrating we don't know, maybe it is about time we took a look at "the man in the mirror". For me, Jacko is the Demoniac of Gerasa in Mark 5. Like the demoniac he has been demonised and deified in equal measure and has felt the full isolation of being so treated. Both tortured themselves - Jacko's re-enactment of racism on himself is quite extraordinary. Both were ultimately the victims of what society made them. Only when Jesus started to speak to the demonaic as a human being - neither god nor demon - was he rehabilitated. Maybe we should have given Jacko such a luxury. Instead, his death marked just another opportunity for all of us to worship at the cult of Michael Jackson.

Maybe it is time to stop gazing at the man in the tabloids and do what Jackson himself asked and "look at the man in mirror". Maybe we will disocver that our worship of celebrities is not as harmless as we like to think.

Incidently, did you know that Jacko was a JW and he based the song "man in the mirror" on James 1:23 - "anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away immediately and forgets what he looks like." Lets not forget the man in the mirror!

What is Fundamentalism?

2009-07-16T21:09:00.005+01:00

Here are a few suggestions I quite like:

"a greater concern to provide evidence for the authenticity of biblical passages than to discover their religious significance." (Barr)

fundamentalists "emphasis rational apprehension of the biblical text over subjective apprehension of the divine." (Boone)

"fundamentalists are evangelicals who are angry about something!" (Marsden)

10 times the food!

2009-06-30T12:18:00.005+01:00

If you give to World Vision's campaign to feed the people of Southern Sudan, the World Food Programme will match it tenfold!

Serious hunger is affecting the people of Southern Sudan as a result of a civil war and natural disasters. Amina Ahmed is 15 years old and has 7 brothers and sisters to look after. They ended up in a refugee camp having been forced to flee their village by the conflict. Her father is missing and her mother is ill. So, it is up to her to feed her family.

I couldn't find anything about this on the net, but I am making this our school's fund raising this term. So, if you want to give as part of that, you could let me have a cheque and I will include it. Otherwise call 0800 088088.

Alternative worshippers look down on church!

2009-06-19T18:25:00.004+01:00

Us bloggers love to sit behind a computer screen in our 7th floor vacant rooms and look down on church goers, alternative worshippers, other bloggers, and generally treat the whole world with disdain. How easy it is to be a blogger!

Stop the Settlements!

2009-06-07T16:20:00.005+01:00

Why not support this campaign by Avaaz?

President Obama just made a remarkable speech in Egypt, committing personally to building peace in the Middle East. Unexpectedly, his first move is to directly challenge the new right-wing government of America's ally Israel - pressing them to stop their self-destructive policy of settlements.

Obama’s bold strategy is facing powerful opposition, so he’s going to need help around the world in the coming days and weeks to strengthen his resolve. Let’s start right now - by raising a massive global chorus behind Obama’s statement that the settlements in occupied territory must stop.

We’ll advertise the number of signatures in key newspapers in Israel, as well as in Washington DC (where some are trying to undermine Obama in the US Congress). Read Obama’s words now and add your signature to them at the link here.

"Israeli Settlement Growth Must Stop, Says Clinton":

Saying something positive about charismatic worship!

2009-06-07T09:53:00.011+01:00

I've spent the last few months absorbed in a study of the Spring Harvest 2008 songbook - mostly in order to confirm all of my prejudices about charismatic worship - and yes, most of them were confirmed!

Its lack of engagement with contemporary issues is quite shocking. Only one song, for example, out of the 120 songs, mentions ecology! Only 6, in my opinion, really engage with issues such as poverty or oppression. Yet, in these 6 songs (by 3 authors), I detect a change. Particularly when you consider that the 1994 songbook had no songs about any of these issues and had a picture of Christians dressed as the Crusaders! Certainly, these 6 songs are framed in the typical charismatic ways (not always helpfully), but their presence in the songbook is worth noting. They are marked by an engagement with contemporary issues, a concern for justice and the oppressed, an integration of God with the day-to-day and a recognition that as Christians they participate in the bringing in of God's kingdom to the earth.

I think this is the best lyric. There are some aspects of the song I'm not a fan of, but here are some good charismatic lyrics:

"Bring heaven to earth, Lord,
... You invite us to partner with you,

to see your kingdom come.

...Bring home to the homeless,
...Bring worth to the purchased,
and touch to the shamed,
...bring truth where there's spin
...bring justice to profit,
bring patience to growth;
bring wisdom to progress,
...bring freedom from debt, Lord,
an end to excess."

Listen to the full song here.

VOTE (Don't let 'Christian Values' kick Jesus out of the country)

2009-06-04T07:53:00.007+01:00

Its elections today - GET OUT AND VOTE - otherwise, certainly in Sheffield and many other towns in the UK there is a real risk that the BNP might get in.

What's that on Nick Griffin's lapel - why a cross of course - because the BNP supposedly stand for 'Christian Values', good old England and all....

So Nick, this Jesus of yours, was he a swarthy skinned Palestinian Jew and one time asylum seeker in Egypt? Would you even let him into this country....

Sentamu even took out an ad in his paper

Guantanamo Reversal?

2009-06-02T20:31:00.006+01:00

“Now some have suggested that this represents a reversal on my part” – Barack Obama.

Those were the words we really didn’t want to hear from Barack’s lips about his pledge to close Guantanamo, but we always feared that hidden in the fine print and the practical details, would be a reversal of sorts.

First, he has decided to revive Bush’s practice of trying terrorism suspects in military commissions. Whatever happened to a fair trial?

Second, he blocked the release of photos showing abuse of detainees. Whatever happened to justice for victims?

Third, “prolonged detention” of terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to the US, but who cannot be tried, because the evidence is “unusable” having been got under torture. Isn’t this just moving Guantanamo to the mainland?

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty, right to a fair trial, right to a lawyer?

I have some sympathy with Barack’s position, having to make the real decisions, but am I too harsh in seeing this as a reversal of sorts?

It prompts me to remember to pray for a man with tough decisions to make and that he wont go the way of practically every person I know who has power.

3 Days to the 100k Trailtrekker (62.14miles) - eek

2009-05-27T10:06:00.005+01:00

Just 3 days to go till I do the non stop 100k Trailtrekker combining the pain of multiple blisters with the glory of the Yorkshire Dales.

I am doing it for Oxfam, who are helping stockpile aid for emergency relief that can be on a plane to where ever its needed in just 13hrs - they specialise in toilets - not only is losing sanitation bad for disease but also for dignity. So if you want to get 'toilets on a plane' (a great film to be had there!) then sponsor me and my work colleagues here

Here to find out more about trailtrekker

The Sacrifice of Isaac

2009-05-21T17:20:00.004+01:00

The story of the ‘almost’ sacrifice of Isaac has, over the centuries, remained both one of the most evocative and also highly contested tales in the Bible. How could God ask Abraham to kill his son? It appears to teach that we should do as God says, without questioning the ethics of the demand, and in the end, God will prove himself just. Is it really right that we do not question the ethics of God's apparent commands? - an argument that could be used to justify all manner of atrocities from the Crusades to 9/11. Here, though, I suggest an alternative, probably thought of by many others before me.
It strikes me that the story probably arose at a time when child sacrifice was common. It was inevitable that any conscientious person, who wanted to appease their deity, would assume that this is the thing to do. Abraham, brought up in such a world, was no different. He would have accepted the received wisdom that God wanted him to sacrifice his son - he even ‘heard’ God command it. However his instinct for justice and his love for his son meant that it did not sit easily with him, to say the least. As he heard the sound of a ram in the thicket he had something of an epiphany. “Maybe God wanted him to sacrifice a ram instead.” The tale, I suggest, became important for later Judaism in defining the distinctiveness of their religion. It explained why they sacrificed animals, while the religions around sacrificed children. Thus, when Jews told the story of the origin of their faith, they told it as a story about the rejection of the inhumanity of child sacrifice.

Rather than reading it as a story that encourages blind, unquestioning obedience, I suggest it should be read as a tale about the ways in which we can all hide behind God’s ‘command’ and thereby do evil in God’s name. It is also, though, a story about the rescue of a loving, caring father from the brink of a murderous act in the name of God. It is about the possibility of rescue for all of us from harmful belief systems. To quote one of my favourite poems,
“ the awareness of things ill done
and done to others’ harm
which once you took for exercise of virtue”

It is about the human capacity to mishear (sometimes genuinely) and find ourselves, in the process, culpable of dehumanising. It is about the human discovery that God always works to make us more human and that any conception of God that dehumanises is to mishear or misunderstand.

I’m hoping to read “Fear & Trembling” by Kierkegaard over the holiday, which I think picks up the image of the ‘sacrifice’ of Isaac. Hopefully I’ll learn more after reading it.

Church on Fire!

2009-05-09T12:39:00.005+01:00

"set your holy church on fire"

Is it just me, or does this line from a Matt Redman song ask God to be an arsonist?

Surely, there must be some budding lyricists out there who are capable of meaningful metaphor!

Gori Gori Hallelujah

2009-05-08T07:59:00.003+01:00

Click pic to see this great story and don't forget to go to his page

This Nun walks into a bar.... & other good stuff

2009-05-06T20:23:00.003+01:00

DIY parables anyone?
Rollins on belief - believe now so true soon
Raffi checks out to check in - the growing taste for real life

Great day...light

2009-05-04T20:08:00.003+01:00

H gave me a day to myself today so i read, had coffee with my mother, went for a great fell run (in horizontal rain but that didn't include an asthma attack :-) and went to loads of artists studios as part of the Open Up festival - Great day. Loved the art and thoughts included:

:-( Sad that a number of the representations of a generic idea of violence were taken from the Christian religious tradition

:-) I LOVED this guy's stuff above. The views are some of my favorite views and his use of light (in street scenes as well - check Eccy rd) really impacted me - an evocative joy. It reminded me of a line from my previous post about light. Light in these pictures and in everyday reality is truly transformative. Even though the physical reality remains the same, somehow everything is different (dynamic, animated, pregnant with potential/meaning...etc?).

Acts 8 v 12 Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Sermons?

2009-05-04T19:44:00.002+01:00

More knowledge (hearing?) = progress? - good old Jon

Sermons...discuss?

Curtains?

2009-04-26T19:09:00.003+01:00

Any one got any spare curtains for the Assist guy's? An asylum seeker just got indefinite leave to stay (brilliant) but they've got no curtains (not so good - though not really the opposite equivalent to forced repatriation, just, you know, its a dignity thing). I'll pick up from around Sheffield. I'll also ask what other stuff they need at the moment as, if you are like me, you will have a large pile of stuff to car boot but no discipline to get up for the 6am start.

Spiritwitterality

2009-04-26T18:47:00.000+01:00

Alternative?

2009-04-23T20:52:00.005+01:00

Theo Hobson on how 'no real alternative' most alternative worship is, and toying with something more authentic - from the good Ship of Fools

U2?

2009-04-23T20:34:00.002+01:00

Ok, its growing on me....

Don't have it yet? Check spotify to listen to U2 or almost anything else for free

Been a long time.... (3 months in 1 post)

2009-04-20T22:06:00.003+01:00

I'll try and condense everything I intended to post but didn't get round to into (as close as I get to normal) sentences:

Got a new Job - Corporate Responsibility - doing good (trying to) feels good doesn’t it?
Israel / Palestine - read Esther - violence (without God) is cyclical - that’s what's so radical about the Jesus story - refusing revenge = chance of change
Light is a powerful universal symbol that we miss because we can flick a switch
I wanted Easter to be a 're-personalisation' of a transformative story / person /(ongoing) event
Taking up your cross is not about (the myth of?) 'redemptive' suffering (the cross = general suffering association is later) it’s about going up against the dominion system and the 'way' of transformation through death/resurrection
I don't miss the blogosphere because - as U2 sing on up till now disappointing new album, ' your enemies will define you' / real people matter more
I do miss the real people on the blogosphere
Write a Book = vanity v useful ?
My old church was great
Is there a balance between reconciling oneself to not being able to change everything and wanting to change everything?
Too many good books to be read
Is it only me that one day thinks its all made up, one day thinks its all true, one day doesn't care but just want to get on, one day doesn't think at all etc etc?
Individualism is its own worst enemy
Justice / Holistic Worship / Proclamation?
Rowan was profound when he said that God doesn't promise to stop us ruining stuff (God is not a responsibility mop (the Gospel is as much a responsibility distributor as receptacle)
Easter = Love wins/ Life = trying to believe and do that
I think its still worth doing something in Sheffield on Spiritual Development to give a bit of a map for fellow travellers
Things are complicated, but even harder when simple
G20.....?
Engage......?
Good to be back?

Theology that changes things

2009-04-16T08:43:00.003+01:00

As an advocate of social change, who likes to sit at home and do as little as possible, I've been wondering:

What kind of theology changes society as well as people’s hearts?

Here are a few historical perspectives:

Postmillennialism to Pre-millennialism. These ideas can be highly tedious hair splitting exercises in interpreting Revelation. On the other hand, they can reflect very different perspectives about the relationship of God to social change. Certainly from the time of the Puritans until the end of the 19th century Protestantism had held the view that Jesus would return after the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. This meant that social change was both desirable and achievable. It meant human beings were a part of the process of the return of Jesus. At the end of the 19th century, and coinciding with the mainstream church becoming less interested in social change, the church moved to the idea that Jesus would return before God’s kingdom was established on earth. If Jesus was to return to earth first, what happened to the earth before that was pretty academic. I, personally, do not want to advocate either, but I do think a theology that hopes for the kingdom of God established on earth is preferable.

Imminence and Transcendence Most churches have historically preferred transcendence over imminence. Look at the songs we sing – they talk about God ‘up there’, beyond us, understood by admiring the wonders of creation. By contrast, such songs did not appear amongst black slaves in North America. Instead, God was among them – he worked out his purposes through the slaves. They saw God as imminent. Thus, they did not wait for God to come as a bolt from heaven, for when they acted God acted.

Predestination and Free will. I have no desire to unpack these philosophical ideas! Just to say, that advocates of free will (e.g. Wesley, Finney) were active in bringing social change. I’m sure either extreme is mistaken and maybe reflects the failure to grasp what the slaves recognised – that God acts through us, so such distinctions are irrelevant.

Who is up for a theology that incorporates the imminence of God with a belief that God will establish his kingdom on earth?

The Condensed Bible

2009-03-25T08:20:00.000Z

A pupil today presented me with a book he'd made "The condensed Bible". I opened it. It said, "Chapter 1: be a good person".

Put People First

2009-03-06T19:21:00.004Z

I think I will go to this. Anybody else?
go to this to find out more:

http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/about-us/media/

Losing Life to Save it!

2009-03-03T19:55:00.004Z

I love James Cone, and here he is at his usual uncompromising best. He asks 2 questions of the black church that could be asked of any church: What is the mission of the church - to save souls or bodies? And, is the church called to save its own life or called to lose its life for the sake of others?

Its amazing how easily a church can find itself sustaining itself. We're trying to find a church at the moment. We visit a church and we know that they have lots of jobs for you to fill and we suspect that when they see us in the pew, they see someone to fill their vacancies. it makes us wonder who they are for - is the church for the people or the people for the church?

I'm absolutely certain there is something outwardly unimpressive ('failed') about a church that decides not to use its energies to prop itself up. There is only a limited amount of energy and time out there and a church that chooses to use that to serve others or just let people rest is going to look unprofessional, limited, 'failed'. But herein lies its real success that, like Jesus, it chooses the path of unimpressive success. For me, its not the ultimate vindication of Jesus in the resurrection that makes Jesus' work a success - success is to build nothing in his lifetime, except to be prophetic in his unpolitical, uncompromising defence of the weak.

Evangelicals ended slavery!

2009-02-18T07:51:00.004Z

Evangelicals, Quakers and other Christians were a significant influence in ending slavery, but initially attempts to change things were pretty pragmatic - gradual change was proposed. But something happened in the 1820s that radicalised a small proportion of the population of North America to insist on immediate and uncompromising abolition of slavery. What was it? This is how Professor Blight of Yale University answers that question:

"First, it was Evangelical Christianity. Some of the radicalism they took from their faith. They took from the so-called Second Great Awakening. They took from this idea that somehow, it was their duty, it was their place in the world...to save souls...it was only one step further--and Finney told them that--to save society as well. And if conversion to Christ or conversion to faith, conversion to salvation, can happen immediately in a person, why not a whole society? If you can revolutionize a single soul, why can't you revolutionize a hundred, 100,000, 1,000,000?... We're living in a different kind of era of Evangelicalism in the United States--although some Evangelicals are indeed reformers, they tend to be seen today largely as political conservatives, social conservatives. Some of the Evangelicalism of the 1820s in America, in the 1830s, became a much more radical kind of Evangelicalism in terms of the social changes that they were advocating."

The false dichotomy between saving souls for another world and saving the world itself, was clearly not understood by nineteenth century evangelicals. Certainly, my research on the period confirms this and has revealed Christianity's relationship to slavery to having been a broadly positive one.

For anyone interested in reading the full transcipt or watching the lecture, it can be found here.

I am an atheist!

2009-02-15T07:58:00.002Z

I found the lyrics of this video interesting. It implies to me that the question of whether or not there is a God is a side-issue and always was, until the Enlightenment wanted to make an issue of it. Up until then, the debate was - what kind of God do you have? Is it a God of power or justice? Not, is there a God? The Bible was certainly written in a context in which the Enlightenment question 'Is there a God?' was irrelevant. In fact, early Christians were accused of being atheists.

Today, as always the question is - what kind of God do you have? Or, to ask this same question with 'secular' language: What do you value most highly? I find this video interesting because it does not put atheists on one side and theists on the other - rather it puts those interested in justice and love on one side (whether religious or not) and those who hurt and abuse on the other (whether religious or not). The issue of whether they believe in God or not is secondary.

No Justice for Binyam!

2009-02-15T07:45:00.001Z

You may remember that in November we campaigned for the closure of Guantanamo and we wrote postcards to Binyam Mohammad. See video of Mohammad's testimony here.

This week his lawyers asked the courts to order the release of documents held by the Foreign Office, which support his claims and implicate UK intelligence services. The 2 Lord Chief Justice's said that it was "plainly right" to publish this "powerful evidence", but that Milliband had blocked its release, because the US had threatened to stop sharing intelligence if it were made public.

So, is Binyam going to get no justice for being held without trial and tortured? It seems might is right after all. Clearly in the UK the government is not subject to the courts, but visa versa! Let's protest against this outrageous denial of a human beings right.

Our kids are miserable!

2009-02-13T20:10:00.001Z

After reading about The Children's Society report, I can't get it out of my head. Here are a few of their findings:

One in six British children have serious emotional or behavioural problems. Children today, it said, are unhappier now than 30 years ago. It said, "Between the lines can be gleaned the uncomfortable truth that many children today are deprived, not of money, but of parental time and love." Two-thirds of children believe their parents 'getting on well' is one of the most important factors in their lives, but only a third of parents thought it mattered that much. And it doesn't seem to matter if they're rich or poor.

What's more, it didn't blame any nebulous social factors. It said that children are unhappy and there is one overwheliming cause - excessive individualism. This is the widespread belief that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than to contribute to the lives of others.

It's sobering stuff, especially for someone with children. There does seem to be something about our society that just cries out, "Unhappy". Startling increases in suicide, anorexia, insomnia and depression. Two boys from my school (in seperate incidents) committed suicide over Christmas! What is going on? Yet, anyone would think from the news coverage that the pressing issue of our day is not unhappiness, but the credit crunch! And all of us (Christians included) are caught up in it all as victims and perpetrators simultaneously. How much are we imbibing the really unhelpful values of our society - almost without noticing?

Religion is a ship

2009-02-03T14:03:00.006Z

“The Great Religions are the Ships…Every sane person I know has jumped overboard.” (Hafiz, a sufi)

I love this line from Hafiz and at certain points in my life it has meant a lot to me. I think the metaphor of religion as a ship is just brilliant and my imagination runs wild thinking of all its possibilities.

I must confess to having once thought of my faith as more of a rock than a ship. But I was being far too over-optimistic as I soon came to realise (the hard way) when the ship began to sink (rocks don't sink!).

Faith is a ship because it has by definition no external prop, but only the structural integrity and interplay of its component parts. When I came to realise this, I wanted to do exactly what Hafiz suggests - jump overboard! After all, if faith has no prop, then the ship (my faith) was just pretending to a certainty that never really existed. It would be better to jump overboard and roll with the waves. Maybe the uncertainties of the sea were scarier, but also more real.

Since realising that my faith did not have a solid foundation, I've come to realise that its survival relies in its being meaningful. I find Hafiz's image helpful here too. I'm presuming Hafiz had in mind sailing ships, rather than ships with engines. For me, the interaction of faith and culture is what sustains the meaningfulness of my faith just as the right interaction of sail with wind, directs the ship.

The Mocking of Christ

2009-01-27T12:01:00.003Z

Apologies for going on and on about my favourite pictures at the moment... but here's another one.

My previous blog reminded me of this picture. It is a Christian comment on Judaism quite different to the one presented in the film.

It was drawn in Austria during WW2. The picture is unmistakenly a picture of Jesus being mocked, with his scarlet robe, crown of thorns, beaten with sticks and the Roman ensignia on the sleeves of the soldier's clothes.

Yet, Jesus has the Jewish symbol as a clasp around his neck and the soldiers are dressed in Nazi uniform. Jesus is here on the side of the persecuted Jew. Jesus' Jewishness is right to the fore and the scapegoating of the Jews is made comparable to the scapegoating of Jesus.

Of course, this picture does not represent the only Christian voice against the mistreatment of Jews. Bonhoffer made a quite remarkable stand. I am not trying to diminish the culpability of Christianity in anti-semitism, but just want to balance this with another perspective that those of faith should find inspiring.

Jesus & anti-semitism

2009-01-22T20:46:00.008Z

I was in school last week and asked what I thought of the first episode of "Christianity: a history". I had to confess that I hadn't seen it, but they were keen to give me a synopsis anyway. I gave my initial responses, which seemed to go down well, but I've watched it now online and here is my more considered reaction:

Its a programme about the role of Christianity on anti-semitism: the Jews, we are told were persecuted and murdered throughout the middle ages and beyond because they killed Jesus. The programme explores the responsibility of Christianity for the ill-treatment of Jews.

Of course, the fact that Jews could be persecuted or killed in the name of Jesus is very disturbing for anyone with any kind of sensitivity. It really is a shame that Christianity could not have more universally deplored the treatment of Jews as another example of scapegoating, on a par with the scapegoating of Jesus.

On the other hand, I have long been convinced that ideology (whether Christian or not) simply doesn't have that much power to control people's behaviour. I'm not saying that we are not influenced by our faith position - of course we are, but we also shape that faith position. I'm pretty confident that the persecution of any group occurs primarily for social, political and economic reasons, and ideologies are shaped to support what people want to do, rather than the other way around.

Anyway, on to the programme. It has, of course, all the typical hype of religious broadcasting - pretty conventional ideas (like Jesus was a Jew or baptism was originally a Jewish rite) are heralded as though they were groundbreaking new discoveries! I like its desire to restore Jesus to his original Jewishness. The programme asks:

"How does it harm a Christian's faith to restore Jesus to the jewish world in which he lived? Jesus never once expressed the intention of starting a new religion. His ambition was to renew Judaism, to reawaken it to its own grandeur, not to abolish it."

It was pretty poor, though, in its presentation of Paul. It presented now discredited scholarship as though it were accepted fact. Paul we are told was anti-Jewish. No quotes or evidence were given and I presume the TV makers weren't thinking about "There is no difference between Jew and Gentile we are all one in Christ Jesus". It is now commonly accepted that Paul wasn't critical of Jew per se (in Romans, for example), but Judaizers (Jewish Christians who claimed Gentile Christians should be circumcised etc). Paul was as thoroughly Jewish as Jesus was, and like Jesus, was not trying to start a new religion, but seeing the true expansion of Judaism to the whole world. Christianity wasn't a religion at all until some time after Paul's death.

Hints at animosity to some Jews is evident in the New Testament - I don't deny that. Post 70AD texts were written just as Judaism was throwing Christians out of the synagogue. But anti-semitism itself is a creation of the Middle Ages and served the political and social agenda of the middle ages.

Will Christianity, I wonder, ever recover its tarnished image or forever be seen as the tool of oppression? I wonder if Channel 4 will show the other side of Christianity - the way it has been a tool for liberation and equality as much as oppression. What can Christians do today to present an alternative vision of what Christianity is all about?

The programme can still be watched here.

Who is my neighbour?

2009-01-21T19:50:00.006Z

I read Mark Powell's comments on the Good Samaritan some time ago - but its one of those comments that sticks with you. I came back to it again recently and thought it was worth a post. Here it is:

"I have heard, read, preached and taught this tale for decades - mostly in mainline, middle-class Protestant churches... the general consensus has always been that the 'moral of the story' is that we ought to be willing to help anyone in need. Our commitment to relieving human suffering ought to transcend political, ethnic and other sorts of rivalries... So I was a little surprised when I went to live in Tanzania and discovered that many people there understand the story differently. The 'moral of the story', these Tanzanians told me, is that people who have been beaten, robbed and left for dead cannot afford the luxury of prejudice. They will (and should) accept help from whoever offers it. When grain is brought to a famished village, parents of starving children do not much care whether the Muslims, Roman Catholics or the Jehovah's Witnesses bring it... In short, the story was understood to answer the question, 'Who is my neighbour?' not with 'whoever needs my help', but with 'whoever helps me'.

As I shared this illustration in the United States, I found that many American Christians smile at the Tanzanians' reading of the familiar tale, regarding it as a quaint misunderstanding. But who is to say which understanding is correct? The variant interpretations are obtained through empathy choice: Americans tend to identify with the men walking down the road... Tanzanians, however, tend to identify with the person in the ditch and consider the question from his perspective. Obviously, one can do either, but I think it is interesting to note the exact wording of the question that is posed in Luke's Gospel... "Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" He does not ask, "Which of these three regarded the injured man as his neighbour?"...

...The main point of the story was that religious leaders... need to evaluate their faith and life from the perspective of the marginalised people of the earth."

I find this quote by Powell striking as an example of what we can learn by reading the text from the perspective of the oppressed, and how much we can bring our priviliged position to the reading of a text. It has often made me read other texts differently by making me ask: who am I empathising with here?

Maybe in the light of some of our recent blogs about who is good - the answer always needs to asked from the perspective of the oppressed - those who do good to the poor, the suffering and the needy, regardless of their faith profession!

(once again I have taken the opportunity to choose one of my favourite images of the good samaritan).

The cross is enough?

2009-01-19T16:33:00.006Z

I went for a run with Schof on Saturday and he took me on a wild goose chase around the peak district (i.e. got me lost and sent me on a one and an hour run). "It's just over the next hill", he said about 5 times! Anyway, I'm not bitter, just can't stand up!

Anyway, a run with Schof, though painful in some ways, is a delight in others. We were chatting about repentence in the Christian circles we had been in. I recalled a prayer meeting where everyone decided to pray long prayers of confession to God. Of course, I'm all up for a bit of confession, but I came out of this prayer meeting saying, "What was that?!"

People were praying about sins that clearly haunted them, but wouldn't say what they were. I found it such a pity that they felt so guilty that they couldn't say what they were and that they couldn't just be honest about their failings. I had my suspicion about what they felt guilty about, and I suspect it wasn't murder or rape!

I just wish Christianity could be for them a place where they do not need to pretend to be 'good people', but can be honest about the fact that they are failed people. The 'being a Christian makes you good' myth just makes people feel they need to pretend they are good and feel utterly ashamed that they are not. I just wish people could be happy with themselves. Schof's comment was that evangelicals are suprisingly not very good at repentence, particularly for people who believe that the cross finally and completly dealt with their sins!

I am personally enjoying my newly acquired contentment with my sin! I have included the picture above, because I've always loved this image of the warm embrace of the Prodigal Son - wrapped in his father's arms, he is forgiven.

Give us this day... kentucky fried chicken

2009-01-18T21:53:00.005Z

So, I was in the staff room and someone says, "I've got this religious joke I've been saving up for you and keep forgetting to tell you it", and off he went:

The head of Kentucky Fried Chicken managed to get an audience with the pope on one of his trips to America.

'Can you please change a line of the Lord's Prayer", he asked, "to 'Give us this day kentucky fried chicken?'
'O no, I can't do that' said the Pope.
'If I give you $10 million would you do it?'
'No, I couldn't change the Lord's Prayer'
'Ok, if I give you $50 million would you change it?'
'No, I'm really sorry, I couldn't change the Lord's Prayer for anything.'
'What about for $100 million?'
This time the pope was tempted, 'OK', he says, 'for $100 million I'll change the Lord's Prayer.'
So, the Pope goes back home to the Vatican and tells his Cardinals, 'I have good news and bad news. The good news is I've brought back $100 million from America. The bad news is ... we've lost the deal with Hovis!"

Are Christians better people?

2009-01-15T15:48:00.007Z

On Monday evening we were treated to a fantastic three-course meal, cooked up by Schof and a great discussion with friends around the question, "Are Christians better people?"

Many thanks to Schof for his great cooking and leading of the discussion!

This is what I can remember from the discussion - maybe other people can fill in the blanks:

There was a brief discussion about what 'good' actually means. eg. a person hasn't been divorced? A person does their quiet time every day? I think we were in agreement that many of the definitions of 'good' presented in traditional Christianity were unhelpful.

It was pointed out that statistics have shown that the behaviour of 'fundamentalist' Christians (by the criteria of the questionairre) were better than the ordinary population. This was put down to social conditioning by our group.

I think we were pretty much in agreement that the traditional Christian message that if you become a Christian you become a better person is just simply not true in our experience and creates unrealistic expectations.

We were challenged to think about some of the Bible passages (especially in the letters) which suggest that if you become a Christian you do change and become a better person. There were various responses to this. Some found it difficult to read some Bible verses without interpreting in the way they had been brought up to interpret them. I think I said a few (heretical) things about defining the 'good' / 'holy' / 'people of God' not by the contours of 'Christians', but by 'those who do good'. This could include people of faith or not, Christians or not. I tried to support this by reference to the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats. I'm not sure others were particularly convinced.

We ended with communion - a very fitting demonstration of the 'openness' of the table of God to everyone and our unity before him.

It seems pretty self-evident to me that 'doing good' should define who 'the good' are and that if these happen to be those outside of our faith tradition, so be it. However, I want to rise to the challenge of Monday night and try to argue that point in the light of biblical texts that might be read to the contrary. So, please post the passages you would challenge me to respond to and I will see what I can do.

Are Christians Better People?

2009-01-05T21:07:00.007Z

So this is 2009 and the Cadburys Cream Eggs are in the shops already.

Did you make any new years resolutions (bad idea according to the bbc)? I did/didn't. I made some 'decisions about how to create a pattern of life in 2009' :-)

Why did I do that? Like any change there are push and pull factors:

Push - I don't like myself much sometimes when i get snared in sin and there are bits of my life that are in a mess because of it. I need more discipline if I am vaguely serious about being an apprentice of Jesus.

Pull - I am attracted to simplicity and making space for God, confession, celebration and service in everyday life as well as the big stuff. I want to be more Christlike (not just in personal piety but also because I want to play my own small unique part in continuing the Xmas story of peace coming) because that feels more like being alive than anything else.

Having said that i am also:

a) Cautious about being religious, trying to earn grace, doing it for the wrong reasons - I refer again to whose desire do i desire
b) Confident in a God who lives in me and can do more than imaginable & i work in 'development' so I see people grow/change all the time
c) Realistic - I might get new tools but can I actually change much, I mean really change? The stats and anecdotals aren't always as good as those 'I was a gangsta and now i am a minista' headlines - Naked Pastor comment1/comment2, Engage chat, Stats from USA1 Stats 2, Beliefnet article. (Though this piece by Matthew Parris (a famous (and humble) Atheist) is a welcome addition to the debate)
d) Concerned that this discussion just descends into an ugly 'who is really in/out and therefore counts' debate or that the whole thing is based around the wrong definition of 'better' or more likely the wrong starting question.

So....help me out here....

The next engage F2F will be a meal (free) at 105 Murray Rd 8pm Mon 12th Jan. It will be an open chat about the question 'Are Christians Better People?' Come and talk to the person next to you, to the whole table or just listen or just eat or any of the above. There will be some readings to chew on between courses, and oh yeah, bring your mobile so you can twitter your own reflections if you want to. Look forward to seeing you there or getting your comments below - HNY

The Pattern of Without

2009-01-03T21:13:00.006Z

Whilst trying to find a patch of pattern for myself for this coming year and I came across this quote (very Rollinsesque) that reminded me of my last year and it is something that I want to carry with me into this year. It is far from a denial of hope, love and faith; It is a refusal to claim 'possession' of them. A awful acknowledgement that they are events not charms for rubbing, that they are often experienced as absences. That they,in their real form, are not born of self but born of God. That they are often as counter intuitive as God. That they are not (just?) informative but transformative.

I said to my soul,

be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing;

wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing;

there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

T S. Eliot

(If you are in a Rollinsish mood then this is a great post - 'whose desire do i desire')

Tidbits II

2009-01-01T19:11:00.005Z

Bit of culture with this William Blake poem

Bit of direct action (or lack there of) from the women of Naples

Bit more progress re Guantanamo this time UK government pressure

Bit steep but tempting 'The Gospel under Occupation' trip to Bethlehem with The Amos Trust

More Tidbits + Advance warning of Jan F2F

2008-12-31T09:00:00.008Z

Been a bit quiet over the festive period. Who says Xmas on the beach is only for Aussies - here are a few things from my festive surfing trips.

1) Naked Pastor on the morning after... reality is not always sexy

2) Mark flagged an event below and I want to try and get to one of these. Lets try and get a proper calender on the site so we can put all this stuff in one place with links etc and poss get chance to go to a few things together.

3) Nice quote that echoed with some of my excitement about rediscovering the trinity in 2008 -Once there was a time when the whole creation formed a single dancing chorus looking upward in the harmony of that motion to the... leader of the dance. Gregory of Nyssa 4c from BMC

4) Wonderful quote from JollyBlogger on his observations from marriage counselling - "I think I think that we could improve many marriages if we could treat one another as enemies. In fact, I think that in many cases the relationship could improve immeasurably if Christians could elevate their spouse to that of an enemy.
Biblically, the Christian is called to love his/her enemy. According to Matthew 5 the Christian doesn't retaliate against his enemy, gives twice what the enemy asks, works twice as hard for the enemy as the enemy wants and blesses the one who treats them badly.
I'm thinking that if I weren't a Christian I would want to be the enemy of a Christian, because that's a pretty sweet deal relationally.
I think I think that many Christian marriages could be a little heaven on earth if the partners would quit worrying about what it means to be a "Christian husband" or "Christian wife" and just learn how to relate to one another as enemies". Jolly Blogger

5) Brilliant story of a Pastor who abandoned his church

6) COE Bish's get their mitres dirty at Xmas

Next Engage F2F, 12th Jan - thinking of cooking a meal with a good few courses over at mine and inviting all sorts (even you!) to join in a conversation along the lines of 'Christians are (supposed to be?) better people'- discuss. I want to share a few scripture readings and quotes and also get others views on it all (and poss capture some via twitter? etc). I'll post some more potential prep links/reading etc soon but - How's that sound?

The World to Come...?

2008-12-29T13:59:00.003Z

A Sheffield Conference asking: How can people of faith respond to the challenges posed by some of the root causes of conflict and insecurity in our contemporary society?

Keynote speaker: Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University.

Date: 25th April 2009

Could be a good Engage day out. (?)

For more information, click here.

Happy Christmas

2008-12-25T06:55:00.007Z

Happy Christmas

And here's to eking out some meaning today.

I sang this last night and felt bad about it -

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him —
Give my heart.

Sure you can guess why - I ain't poor and 'just' my heart/personal piety seems like a convenient cop out.

Yet Christina Rossetti who wrote it, although famous in her day, grew up poor, with a refugee father and her own deteriorating mental health. So I need to be careful with my bah humbugs.

So then, lets enjoy a Christmas of exploring the story, chewing on it like a turkey dinner and savouring the many flavours, views and voices. Lets explore it unabashedly with our hearts as God is incarnate now in us*. And lets continue to be dissatisfied by all the chintz and clutter as we explore what our gift to the world may be.

*Free Christmas Tidbit- Luke uses the same phrase 'come upon' about the Spirit and Mary Lk 1:35 and in describing the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost

Sneak a peek at a couple of gifts

2008-12-22T13:17:00.008Z

My gift to Pete Rollins this year seems to be a boost on technorati but at the risk of over exposure I thought you would enjoy a great little pod from Icon re a political reading of the Xmas story and also referring to the creation story - hence the image (hmmm... you want to listen now don't you). There is also another short one on here from Pete's new book for next year re Parables (Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales) - Mark - think you will like this one on the rapture.

Click here for both

Psalm 5

2008-12-21T07:47:00.001Z

I loved this:

Roll(ins) over for a Tickle

2008-12-19T16:19:00.004Z

Great little series of short youtube vids with Pete Rollins and Phyllis Tickle discussing 'the great emergence' at the recent GE gathering in the States here.

Check Phyllis' book here.

'Do they know it's Christmas' - Yes... but I guess they are hoping for something different this year

2008-12-19T10:24:00.005Z

Following our reflections around Xmas on Monday the situation in Zimbabwe seems to be crying out for some Liberation. See what you can do to be part of the frustrating, waiting, but pregnant story of freedom here.

Tendero - if you are out there - what do you think is the most important thing for us to do as we join in the hope of freedom, health and peace for your people?

Get In! (out)

2008-12-18T22:11:00.003Z

Get in! - BREAKING NEWS - this looks like a serious break through

Wrong Channel

2008-12-18T11:13:00.004Z

Took me a little while....lol!
Work's in so many ways.
Good on you NP and Happy Christmas to you and family

Dark Jesus

2008-12-18T10:07:00.005Z

Bit of a follow on from Mark's post and certainly tooooo good to not pass on (as Mike Morell said if you saw it on Zoecarnate)- click for larger version.

The Cross & the Lynching Tree

2008-12-17T16:17:00.008Z

Well, your editor-in-chief has been back to the cutting room floor to edit another video! Unfortunately, I need to give the same caveat to this film I gave to my last - there are some grim scenes/themes in it! I'm going to get a reputation if I'm not careful!

I wanted to get away from the some of the abstract ways in which the cross is understood and wanted to express the idea of the cross as it really was - a violent lynching. How do you do that without making people think about violence? But I have tried hard to limit the number violent images and certainly avoided at all costs the kind of gratuitous violence of the Mel Gibson variety - a morbid fascination with violence does not interest me, but an interest in understanding the cross for what it really is, is important to me.

I would like to have used Billie Holliday's version of 'Strange Fruit' because there is nothing quite like the haunting brilliance of her performance, sung by someone who knew first hand what lynching was all about. Unfortunately her style just wouldn't allow me to dub over it. You can see her performance here.

I have dubbed over an interview with James Cone. The full interview is worth listening to. You can see it here.

I am still very much aware of the limitations of my film making skills, so please forgive this.

James Cone has said, “The crucifixion of Jesus was a 1st century lynching and it was very violent. Jesus was lynched. Well, America has a tradition of lynching. America lynched more than 5,000 black people in this land. lf we understand the cross correctly we will see it as Jesus being a victim of lynching, a victim of violence… At the heart of the Christian faith is God taking upon God’s self the suffering of the victim. So, Christians in this society want to understand what the cross was all about they have to see it through the lynching experience… When you see a lynched black body that’s who God is. God is present in that body just like God was present in Jesus’ cross. So the cross is very violent in which God is taking the violence of sin and the world upon God’s self… We have to become identified with lynched black victims. If we can’t do that we can’t be identified with the crucifixion of Jesus…The cross is God taking the side of the victim…If the powerful in our society… want to become Christians they have to give up that power and become identified with the powerless,"

Porpoise Driven Life

2008-12-16T15:47:00.002Z

Engage Advent Liturgy/Meditation

2008-12-15T22:00:00.007Z

Here is a meditation we did tonight. Mark also did a great session on reading the Christmas story from the perspective of the oppressed. We all took on different characters to be as the story from Luke was read - A Guantanamo inmate, a trafficked woman, an asylum seeker, black slave, etc etc. It was amazing and we really benefited from the voices Robert Spooner and Tendero, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker (from ASSIST) - hey I would never have guessed in a million years the stuff Tendero brought to the story. Love it - different /global perspectives rock!

Anyway the med was partly, and totally gratefully, nicked from Iona and the phenomenal Cheryl Lawrie and a bit of me. Get it here and get the audio to play over the top here (thanks ubiquitous Sigur Ros and less so Ulrich Shnauss). Set off audio then launch slide show straight away to sync it.

So, if you were there tonight - what are you carrying with you from it? I'll kick off and please do join in sharing your reflections via the comments button below.

Look out for the next enagage F2F in Jan if you missed this one - muppet! :-)

Dance God Bear, Dance

2008-12-11T12:43:00.005Z

Flicking through GodTV type channels (I know I know!) and a passionate guys was, I am sure sincerely, trying to help people live a full life - you know 'prosperity'. Anyway the guy said an amazing thing - "You must know how to activate the release of gods favour"

Wow - what a thing to say. No doubt this would then be followed by the exact process (e.g prayer of Jabez type stuff, donate(read buy) to get my prayer cloth etc etc) to follow to twist God's arm and make him dance

What an outrageous conceit, surely total idolatry, perhaps even divine puppetry - mastering the master to have him do our bidding. Who is God in this equation?

It reminded me of reading How (not) to Speak of God by Pete Rollins. Although he is tackling our intellectual/systemising reduction of God, this prosperity gospel stuff is surely another version of boxing and using God for our own purposes - Yikes - that ain't right! - but its always a danger.

Here are some quotes from Rollins that came to mind:

“God is not the object of our thoughts, but rather, he is the “absolute subject before whom we are the object.”

“To take our ideas of the divine and hold them as if they correspond to the reality of God is thus to construct a conceptual idol built from the materials of our mind”

“Christians testify to having been caught up in and engulfed by that which utterly transcends them.”

H(N)TSOG - get it on the Christmas list (alternatively stick with a little God you can keep on tight reins)

Tip Off

2008-12-10T21:20:00.004Z

Tip off -

Great reflection on 'house church' and its legacy in lives (might be topical!:-))
http://zoecarnate.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/super-brief-post-on-house-churching-where-im-at-now/

Advent Conspiracy podcast from the Homebrew crew
http://trippfuller.com/?p=427

Advent reflections from Mars Hill (Rob Bell)
http://marshill.org/adventblog/

Checkout great sermon called 'beware the dogs' from RB from excellent series on Philippians
http://marshill.org/teaching/index.php (quick - its a 12 week rolling gig)

Naked Pastors, 12c Carols, Gauntanamo - just another advent...

2008-12-10T20:58:00.006Z

Our friend Naked Pastor posting close to our hearts -

Weird but this is a clip is from a (12 century!) carol has come up again and again for me this advent. It seems to tie into so many themes I have been chewing recently - around the Hebrew hope/(humanities hope?) for a new exodus, about 1 John's dawning of something new, the powerful/powerless grace,goodness & peace of God, the nature of atonement, wrestling with God, our hope for and role in the future. Its not a perfect carol but it seems to ring some seriously significant bells and I presume it would be hard to sing this Christmas in Guantanamo. Check it here- what does it stir in you?

I reckon it was written by a 12c 'emergent'! (Shock news - the idea of the Gospel being about everything/now is not new!)

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind In one the hearts of all mankind; Oh, bid our sad divisions cease, And be yourself our King of Peace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!

Wow you look great God

2008-12-08T15:39:00.003Z

I really like this blog and this post is a short, sweet but important one re the dangers of making God over in our image. I don't think this risk is unique to contextual theology, its a besetting sin of both biblical and systematic versions too. Good prompt though, no matter which side of which fence you sit on, as Anne Lamott says in Bird by Bird, " You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do ..."

Theology is looking in a mirror dimly not a 20/20 reflection of myself. Hey if God's just like me we are all in trouble!

Sprained finger TV

2008-12-07T17:12:00.003Z

I find these TV stations a bit like a sprained finger - It hurts but I cant stop wiggling it for the sensation. (ASBO Jesus is like clearasil - spot on again)

Upside down thinking

2008-12-07T17:02:00.002Z

Click on image for more(less)

Someday us be free

2008-12-07T08:53:00.005Z

We are accustomed to hearing about the ways in which the Christian religion has been used as a tool to oppress. Of course, it has been used in this way. One black slave in America recorded,

“Those who were Christians [and] held slaves were the hardest masters. A card-player and a drunkard wouldn’t flog you half to death. Well, it is something like this – the Christians will oppress you more.”

Such a comment is certainly sobering. However, there is another side that is not pointed out quite as often about the way the Christian religion has been a force for liberation. I love this quote by a black slave:

“My Uncle, Ben, he could read de Bible and he allus tells us some day us be free. And Massa Henry laugh, “haw, haw, haw.” And he say, “Hell, no, yous never be free. You ain’t got sense ‘nuf to make de living, if yous was free.” Den he takes de Bible ‘way from Uncle Ben and say it put de bad ideas in he head. But Uncle gits ‘nother Bible and hides it, and Massa never finds out.”

If we can use the Bible to liberate or oppress we need to ensure we choose the former rather than the latter.

No one wants our guilt for Christmas

2008-12-04T16:34:00.003Z

Reading some great liberation theology stuff this morning and came out with overwhelming message -

'The poor do not want our guilt they want our power to become their power'

Sounds like an important theme for our guilty reflections on our consumer Christmas and our considerations of the incarnation - the power the poor Christ child brought into the world and the way he used it.

Christmas & Poverty

2008-12-03T20:49:00.002Z

Christmas can be and often is a very difficult time not only for the poor but for those that by the standards of the majority of the world are rich indeed. It is not the meaning of Christmas or the bible story of Christmas that makes it so, but rather piles of dubious expectations that have been placed upon it, especially by western culture. The cultural lore that has made Santa Claus or his equivalent into a representative of materialism makes it hard for those who cannot attain the levels of giving and getting that are promoted by the commercial world. The deep and growing divisions between the haves and have nots are abundantly clear at Christmas in many places of the world. The reality is, however, that the commercialism in the West that undermines the true celebration of the birth of God’s gift of hope to the world also deadens our sense of connection to the majority of God’s children who live each day in poverty. Christmas calls us to reflect upon our relationship to poverty at many levels. Failure to do so distorts our souls and weakens our spirits.

The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem is remembered because of who Jesus was, what he taught, how he lived, died, and was raised. Jesus himself probably did not grow up in abject poverty, but he certainly heard the cry of the poor throughout his ministry. He saw the results of the Roman occupation and the ways injustice and unabated power create conditions of poverty and its resulting suffering, humiliation, and hopelessness. His mission to the impoverished proclaimed by both word and deed that God stands with the poor and the oppressed against the evils of tyranny, inequity, oppression and greed. Christian, Hebrew, and Muslim scriptures convey the same message. If we neglect the poor and oppressed, if we do not share our wealth, if we turn away from the lost, the least, and the last, we have not truly heard the word of God. It is not just the condition of the poor that is at issue. It is also the condition of our own souls.

The celebration of Christmas at its best is the celebration of hope. There is hope for the poor. There is hope for justice. There is hope for peace. There is hope because Jesus was born as the Word: “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us.” God reached down into human history and declared that nothing, not angels or powers or things past or things to come, nor any creature can separate us from the love of God that was born in Bethlehem as the
embodiment of hope. So let us sort through the piles of crass materialism that contemporary Christmas too often offers, through the piles of meaningless gestures of the holidays, through the piles of denial of the dismal poverty that infects our planet, seeking once again the birth of hope. May our gift giving always include those who live in want. But even more may we give the gift of ourselves to those institutions and structures that seek to address the poverty of Gaza and the West Bank, the poverty of the vast majority of humanity, not with handouts but with political and economic action. Let us hold up the reality of life for our impoverished sisters and brothers to those whose policies create their misery. Let us hold fast to the message of the birth of Jesus which always points to the realm of God in which there are no poor, where justice reigns, and where peace is not a dream but a reality. And on Christmas Eve and whenever
we give and receive gifts, let us give thanks for the ever-present Christmas.

by Robert W. Tobin

Coming - Advent Reflection

2008-12-03T12:38:00.005Z

Really getting into 'Advent' this year - over and above the cheesy/chocolaty advent calender thing. Even with my CofE background the church I went to was so low we missed out on lots of the wonderful church calender stuff that i am now appreciating much more.

Anyway simple thoughts on 'Advent'

Advent is from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming"
Adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia ("coming, arrival, personal presence")
Its a period of expectant waiting and preparation
Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians today as they await the second coming of Christ
These days I see the expectant waiting and preparation as less passive and more proactive
In fact the bible story invites us to be part of the 'coming'
The coming of the kingdom of God, a totally different empire than the one that the Xmas stories set themselves up to subvert (Herod 'king of the Jews', Emperor Caeser)
The coming of Peace, 'Goodwill to all men', grace, love, justice, healing, the transforming power of powerlessness
God becoming incarnate in humanity in order to save, rescue and redeem humanity
Advent then seems now to also be about our part in that becoming incarnate / coming of God and his presence and in the reconciling of all things in him
In Christ God came, in helpless babe
For those who are now 'In Christ' we are also the helpless babes of his coming who will grow in grace and good deeds as apprentices of Jesus and followers of his way, as instruments of peace, as God's own gift to the world.

Perhaps everyday is an advent calender day when we open the door to the surprise possibilities of Gods coming in and through us.

JD Crossan on the Xmas Story - Peace, another King/Saviour - what you talk'in 'bout fool?

2008-12-02T16:37:00.007Z

V thought provoking podcast from the Homebrewed crew (they are on the podcast bar on the right)

This is JD Crossan talking about the Xmas stories - might be good prep for the 'Christmas form the underside' F2F on Monday.

Perhaps most people would have said - 'What do you mean 'peace on earth', a king/saviour - we all ready got it (Caesar)' So what is the story saying?

Muse on through Advent.

Close Guantanamo Video!

2008-12-02T11:25:00.005Z

At last, I've managed to upload the Guantanamo video we watched at the event last week.

Aldous Huxley said, "The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human". Hopefully, this goes some way towards correcting that.

Be warned, it is not easy watching:

Also, here are the links for anyone who hasn't managed to take action on Guantanamo yet:

http://www.tearitdown.org/todo.phphttp://www.unsubscribe-me.org
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=536 (write to your MP about Binyam Mohamed)
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=169 (e-mail Mr Bush)

Also, why not visit YouTube and give my video a good star rating?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3BuslbfZg

From the mouth of babes!

2008-12-01T20:06:00.008Z

I told my kids a story over dinner and asked them what it meant. It was a story about a master who had three slaves. He told the slaves he was going away for a while, but would be back. He gave the first slave £5 and told him to invest the money while he was gone.

I says, "What do you mean, invest the money?"

I told him that if someone needs money you can lend them the money, but they don't give you back what you lent them. They give you back more.

Immediately, I could see I's face. He seemed incredulous. "Does that still happen now?"

"Yes", I said, "that's how we get money if we need it".

"That's not fair."

"What do you think they should do instead?"

"They should give them the money if they need it."

"Or, they could just ask them to pay back what they borrowed and not ask for more?", I suggest

"Yes", he replied.

Anyway, I carried on with the story. I said that he went to the 2nd slave and gave him £2 to invest and the third slave £1 to invest.

"He's got favourites", said C.

"Anyway", I said, trying to carry on the story, "when he returned the 1st slave said that he had invested it and made an extra £5. The master said that he was a good and faithful servant. The 2nd slave said that he had earned an extra £2. The master said that he was a good and faithful servant. The 3rd slave said that he knew the master was cruel and harsh, so he he buried the £1 he had been given. The master sent him out to be punished."

"So, what's the story about?"

"I think he's greedy", says C.

"He's just interested in taking poor people's money", says I

"and he has favourites", says C.

"I think the story is about the situation now," says I.

I couldn't help thinking that two kids hearing the story afresh so instinctively get what the story is about, whilst theologians have got their knickers in a twist about strange interpretations because they can't help thinking Jesus is the master. For some interesting debate about its meaning see here.

Stuff Bank

2008-12-01T18:30:00.004Z

I was reading something on sustainable lifestyles yesterday and I remember a quote something like this

'Do you really need to own the thing or just use it?'

What a great question. I was part of a household church about 12 years ago and when we got together one of the things we did was make a massive list of all our stuff that we would be happy to lend out to others in the group / our wider network. No pressure, purely voluntary and only stuff you were happy to get back in 'used' condition! It was great as Heather and I were skint in a bedsit (affectionately known as the 'damp cave') and it really helped us not to mention the way we could reach out to others with our stuff. It was a great way of subverting our individualized (or 'nuclear familyized') ideas of community, 'property/ownership', consumerism etc and it made massive eco sense - not to mention the way it was, in a strange but beautiful way, good for our individual and communal soul.

Bit like freecycle idea (maybe we should start/join a group) but the stuff doesn't even need to change hands (though that's good too) - its more about living open handed.

So if you need something just ask! Anyone for hedge trimmers?! Stuff Bank - its the way forward...

1st Sunday in Advent Liturgy

2008-12-01T14:44:00.006Z

The Lectionary Liturgies are in our Links (bottom right) but this is a great kick off Advent liturgy.

Maybe we could do this (or some of it) or similar at our Xmas session 8/12, or maybe someone wants to write one for us?

The old 'morning bell' is doing a great series in advent so make sure you are hooked up here

Guantanamo for kids

2008-12-01T13:59:00.005Z

I recently attended a good and productive meeting that raised my awareness of Guantanamo Bay and the human rights issues related to such detention camps.

A few days later I spent a short time scribbling down some words…

Abused
Abused physically
Abused emotionally
Abused sexually
Abused ritually
Abused habitually

Abused by those who house them
Abused by those who feed them
Abused by those who clothe them
Abused by their “carers”
Abused by their “keepers”

Abused for the satisfaction of others
Abused behind closed doors
Humiliated
Out-numbered
Out-powered
Imprisoned
Alone

No rights
No voice
No-where to go
No escape
No justice
No hope
No-one to help

Utterly innocent

Who will intervene?

These words may conjure up all sorts of images and emotions, and you might be surprised to see the line “Utterly innocent” in there. Even at the meeting it was acknowledged that not all the detainees in Guantanamo were “whiter than white”.

But this poem is not about Guantanamo Bay. It is about child cruelty in this country, and it attempts to show the similarity of experience between the detainee in Guantanamo and the child just down your street. The poem is entitled “Guantanamo for kids”.

Please take the time to re-read this poem in light of such child abuse and you must surely agree that “Utterly innocent” is utterly appropriate.

The NSPCC estimates that 1 child is killed by a parent every 10 days in the UK, and that there are over 35,000 children on Child Protection Plans in the UK at the moment (some of those children are yet to be born).

The British Association of Adoption and Fostering say there are another 64, 000 children currently in local authority care.

There are thousands of seriously abused and broken children who have been separated from their families through the courts, and social workers ensure me these children are just the tip of the iceberg.

I was pleased to go to the meeting about Guantanamo Bay, but I feel there is a limit to what I can do. I can raise awareness. I can attempt to apply political pressure. I can pray. But I cannot go in and release the captives. And even then, would my responsibility stop there? Surely we must consider the whole process of physical and emotional restoration for these captives once they are released? Who will be there for them once they are released?

But what about those children in this country, those on the “tip of the iceberg” who have been released from their chains (although some will fall straight back into new chains in our imperfect “in care” system) or those who are still secret and hidden. What about their release? What about their physical and emotional restoration? What about their renewal? Who will consider that? Who will consider them? Can I do more than raise awareness, apply political pressure and pray?

In Isaiah 58, God is rebuking his people for just “going through the motions” when it comes to their seeking of God and their worship of Him. He doesn’t want their unimpressive and duplicitous fasts / acts of worship. God says…

6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Worship of God is not just about letting “the oppressed go free” but about bringing “the homeless poor into your house”.

These children need to be bought into a good and caring house, a new house, and all the Adoption Agencies agree with that. This new house is the context for their healing, for their restoration, for their receiving of unconditional love. I hope and pray that providing this house / home / family is what God would have me do for just one of the thousands of those “tip of the iceberg” kids who have been released but now need restoration.

God wants his people to “bring the homeless poor into your house”, and in doing so, God reveals His character through us. After all, this is what God has done for us, isn’t it? Yes, he has “released” us who were captives to sin and death by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But he has not left us there, broken from our experience. He also re-houses, re-families and re-parents us by adopting us into His family and His house for the purpose of true restoration and renewal.

God has done more than release us captives. He has bought us, the homeless poor, into His house, his place for renewal and restoration. What and how is God calling you to bring the homeless poor into your house and what would that look like?

I am becoming more and more convinced that the people of God should do such things for these children. We may not be able to see it, but they are all wearing orange jump suits.