Something Fishy Going On?

I was having an interesting discussion with my dad last night.

When it comes to church and belief, Dad is much more traditional than I am. I'll accept some traditions... but I don't tend to follow just for their own sake.

I was asked if I wanted fish and chips tomorrow... never one to pass up a free meal, I of course said yes. Mum and Dad were both raised in the custom of not eating meat on Good Friday. Similarly, they never served either me or my sister meat on Good Friday, as we grew up. Last night I asked Dad why he thought that the tradition had been put in place. He wasn't entirely sure... but nonetheless he saw it as an important act of personal reverence on his part. If I were to guess, I would say that it is done out of respect for the fact that Jesus took on flesh and blood and died for us. Meat is flesh and blood... so to abstain from eating meat is an acknowledgement of what Jesus did.

I probably won't eat any meat tomorrow, but more because I don't want to cause concern for other people. As a Christian, I personally believe that Jesus sacrifice holds daily and eternal significance to me. I don't necessarily subscribe to the importance of festivals. every day is a gift from God... and should be treated as such. I believe in what Paul taught in his writings to the Romans:

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:

" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,

'every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will confess to God.'"

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

What Paul writes here is amazing... it can be applied to so many different facets of the Christian life. If more people applied this passage to their lives, there would be a lot less disagreement among believers. What he is basically saying is that there are bound to be minor things that we see and do differently... but we should not impose our personal spirituality... the ways in which we worship or practice our belief on other Christians.

I really encourage you to consider what aspects of your faith that are not mandatory... you may be unnecessarily burdening other people with.

Nuclear Pop

Did my eyes deceive me, or are the Sugababes re releasing a track for inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Of course they aren't (although they are one of the few pop acts I actually respect - Keisha is my favourite). Though there is a song called "Push the Button" being entered into the annual contest (which I religiously avoid due to having an affliction otherwise known as... taste), alas it is not the one sung by the Sugababes.

No, this "Push the Button" is an anti-nuclear anthem (apologies for picture or any other quality you may find distasteful), believed to be written in response to the potential threat posed by everyone's favourite poison dwarf - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was overwhelmingly chosen by the Israeli public. You can read more about it in this BBC article.

Many would accuse Israel of hypocrisy (they maintain a policy of nuclear ambiguity, but most people don't doubt they have the technology). However, to my knowledge Israel have never once publicly voiced an opinion that implied any desire to entirely obliterate a nation with such technology. The Iranian President, compensating for his insecurities, has made such statements without as yet having that technology. .. and that is the major difference. Iran does have serious energy needs... but you can understand why people are jittery about allowing such a nation to have nuclear power, when their most prominent spokesman has himself propagated the notion that Iran harbours nuclear ambition for an entirely separate agenda.

I call upon the Iranian people to throw down this vile idiot, he puts his own personal insecurities before the security and wellbeing of his nation. I say to you, deal with the monster on your thrown and we will deal with the monsters on ours (Bush and Blair will both be out of office by the end of 2008).

Going back to Eurovision and it will be interesting to find out how well this group performs, because it may well reveal just how strongly Europeans feel about nuclear technology, for or against.... the song isn't just restricted to Israel'[s specific situation.

On a side note, reading the BBC article revealed an interesting fact. It is against Eurovision rules to quote the Bible (and presumably any other religious text) in any song entry. What is with that? We know what happened last time a European nation started getting overly worried about books...

The morn of Christmas Eve

Today is quite surreal for me. It is Sunday, but my church doesn't have a service this morning, because it's got a midnight service in the evening. It does have a kiddy carol service in the afternoon but the style of that service won't suit me., so I don't feel like walking or cycling 2.5 miles just to go.

There is a service at my hometown church, but I struggle at that church - the prayers and songs are done in very much the kind of style I criticised in my "Madvent" post. I can handle St. Nick's in small dose. As I will be going to the midnight service at that church, I will skip this morning.

So for the first time in a long while I find my self at a loose end on a Sunday morning.

I'm going to spend a little time cooking up a Christmas blog that I shall post later today, but for the most part I shall be chilling out listening to my Last FM radio station or viewing my Myspace profile.

Most importantly I must remember to walk around St. Nicholas church and pray for the midnight service just before going in. It's a tradition I started two years ago. I went to the service with a couple of friends and was embarrassed because the vicar preached about nothing but store loyalty cards - no mention of Jesus whatsoever. St. Nick's is rocky soil, it is very hard for anything to grow there... I should know, it is where my journey of faith started. I have resolved every year since to walk around the church and pray for that service. Do you know what? The past two years I have done this, have had some of the most evangelical sermons I have heard in that church.

I'm also looking forward to going to church with my sister who would probably describe herself as a lapsed Christian. It is fun because she enjoys joining me on my mission of "positive mischief". When it comes to the prayers, she will say them slowly with me, rather than race through them in a single breath like everyone else - for pities sake we are talking to God, not commentating on a horse race! We will both belt out the carols at the top of our voices... and we will both miss out the line of "Once in Royal David's City", that I theologically disagree with.

So apart from having an opportunity to praise God, I also have an opportunity to be a bit of a rogue (albeit for the right reasons), and to have a lot of fun.

Don't be deceived into thinking the Christmas tradition of the Midnight service is dull... if you know what you are doing it is anything but dull.

Grey Rights

Why is it that society is changing in such a way that anything exclusive must be evil?

I am writing of course, in response to the news that the Christian Union at Exeter University has become embroiled in a legal battle over it's membership and enrolment criteria. Now call me what you will, but I believe that if an organisation exists for a specific purpose that fundamentally defines it's very identity, then it has every right to take steps to protect the factors that decide the nature of it's existence.

It is considered rude and bad form to attend a restaurant - be it Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian or French... and demand an English dish. You go to those places to partake in their unique flavour and cultural offerings, you don't go to subject them to your own bland demands... or at least you shouldn't. Why should it be any different for religion or gender for that matter?

Why do we all have to go into the cosmic blender and become congealed into a morass of grey blandness? Sometimes I look at other blogs that are emblazoned with the "Embrace Diversity" banner... and I wonder what the authors understand by that statement? I am sure they fall into two groups. There are those who believe that diversity is about believing everything in culture is equal without question... that we should all have a shared morality that encompasses all belief. There are also those who believe that everybody is equal and entitled to their beliefs... but do not necessarily believe that all those beliefs in themselves are equal. I'm more inclined to believe the latter. I think we can learn from one another's beliefs... but I feel we are wrong when we try to supplant our own agenda (be it liberal or conservative) into a belief system. Don't get me wrong... I have nothing against using examples from one religion to suggest that in actuality it is pointing to another... but to actually change a people's religious practices without them changing their religion... isn't conversion, it is just hybridization.

In a couple of earlier posts I've pointed out that I don't think it's right to expect non-Christians to have to comply with Christian standards if they don't subscribe to the faith. Now I'm turning the argument on it's head. I am defending Christianity's right to maintain it's own standards in the face of outside cultural pressure. I don't want to force my culture on humanity... but I expect humanity to share that same level of respect for my culture. I don't want people who have no interest in a relationship with Jesus Christ... dictating the terms of religious doctrine to me - that is irrespective of whether such people are conservative or liberal.

True diversity lies in accepting and respecting people despite what differences you may share.

If we are going to start accusing people of discrimination on the basis of exclusivity... then I am going to start using ladies toilets... it is discriminative to ban men from any toilet on the basis of their gender. Of course I'm not serious... I only intend to illustrate how ludicrous it is to legislate such things.

The Trouble with Secularism

The other day I blogged about the curiously misunderstood relationship between politics and Christianity. Lo and behold in the week following, there has been a flurry of debate concerning the future role of Christianity in the state of Britain. It comes in the wake of an Evangelical Alliance think tank publishing their views about Prince Charles' desire to be "Defender of Faith" not just "Defender of the Faith", you can read about the story here.

So where do I stand in all this?

I want to go back to something I said in that earlier post I referred to:

Christianity is not about using political power and statutory authority to
enforce belief among non-believers. Do I believe God is calling all of humanity
to righteousness? Yes of course... but at the end of the day, every person has
to choose salvation for themselves... you can lead a horse to water but you
can't make it drink!

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want everyone in this land to know the love of Christ and accept his as their God... and I'd be disappointed if the people of this nation become stiff-necked and heart hearted and rejected God. However, if the people in their free will choose to do that... I don't believe in forcing them back by rule of law.

In fact, were Charles to get his way, I'd actually see it as an opportunity for the Church of England to get itself right before God. At the moment, because it is the state religion, the CofE has to take a broad view on many things. Due to the pressures put on it by its role as part of the state, it is not free to be what God would shape it to be. It can't be controversial.... because it has to be inclusive of every man woman and child of this nation. What is more, the higher echelons of the Church of England's infrastructure are shackled under secular authority. Every bishop or archbishop you see, is vetted by the Prime Minister... in the past I was ignorant of such things, but when Tony Blair came into power... he took the role much more seriously than other PM's. As I mentioned before, Blair's brand of Christianity appears to be a highly compromised one... which is inclusive of and contaminated by other religious philosophies. It's disturbing when somebody of that caliber starts moving his yes men into positions of authority within the church.

You may ask what right has a religion to force it's views on the state? A fair question... and you already know my answer to that. I in turn now ask you what right the state has to interfere in matters of faith and doctrine?

The strongest advocate of secularism in the UK is unsurprisingly the National Secular Society. - an organization that I have special vitriol for. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with people choosing atheism or humanism as an option... but the NSS is a different creature. In the past, it has lobbied the UN to pursue a "Freedom from Religion" policy instead of the current UN policy of "Freedom of Religion". What that basically means is that religion being a personal thing, could only be exercised in the home or a place of worship. Speaking in a public forum on religious matters would be illegal... which technically I would assume would class this blog as illegal too.

Now the National Secular Society boasts being made up of the greatest atheistic/humanistic minds of our generation... people like Professor Richard Dawkins. With all this grey matter at their disposal, I would have thought the fundamental flaw of their argument was obvious. By pressurize governments and the UN for such a proposal, they become the very monster they have accused organized religion of being. They are trying to force people to comply to their own narrow minded point of view.

Not subscribing to a religion doesn't make you objective in your arguments here... because you are still expressing a point of view. Atheism, agnosticism, and humanism are subjective. It is therefore wrong for people who follow those paths, to impose a gagging order on people who think differently. Do we really want to walk down the footpath that China and North Korea have walked along for so long? I think not. Freedom of religion works fine. The National Secular Society should learn to grow up and shut up on such issues... and put their minds towards more productive matters.

The Bible says that Faith without deeds is dead... but I would say that the same goes for Reason. If you have been gifted with intelligence, use it to benefit God (should you believe in him) and/or mankind. Don't use the talents you have been given to further a paranoid agenda.

The Truth About Christianity and Politics

I heard a good one the other day:

A man dies and and ends up meeting St. Peter at the gates of heaven. As they walk together along the vast corridor leading to heaven itself... the man notices clocks on the wall and asks St. Peter what they relate to.

"Oh" says Peter "they are Lie clocks!"

The man looks bemused and asks Peter to explain...

Peter continues "The clocks record how much people lie - the further on in time from 12 noon the time shows... the greater the time on the clock. You see over there? That's Mother Teresa's clock... as you can see, it's only 5 past 12 so she only told a few lies. Over there is Abraham Lincoln... who at 5 to 1 has told a few more but isn't too bad."

The man, who was English on Earth is curious and so asks St. Peter where Tony Blair's clock is...

Peter solemnly replied "Tony Blair;'s clock? Oh yes, it's in Jesus' office... he uses it as a desk fan!"

It doesn't matter what you think of Tony Blair... that is fairly irrelevant to what my post is about. Although his political stance is at the very centre of what I am addressing.

In the modern world, it is very easy to label Christianity as a whole as being authoritarian right wing... especially as the leading politicians who appear to subscribe to it, are largely neo-conservatives.

I'm a Christian...

... I'm not neo-conservative.

My economic views are largely left wing and I am ever so slightly liberal according to the political compass. In fact it would appear I am diametrically opposed to Tony Blair, George W. Bush and the like. I get annoyed because people bang on about Blair being a Christian, but conveniently forget that he reads the Koran, wears a Hindu charm bracelet and has a new age spiritual advisor. In fact Tony Blair describes himself as an Anglo-catholic charismatic... which practically covers every base as far as Christian denominations are concerned. Whatever Blair believes, it is clear that he is keen to have a finger in every pie... so he can appeal to as many people with differing beliefs as possible. the question is, is that just canny politics... or is it spiritual prostitution? Whichever is true of him, I offer a stark warning: those who appear to try and stand for everything... are often the ones who inf act stand for nothing at all.

So what do I think about Christianity and politics?

Christianity is not about using political power and statutory authority to enforce belief among non-believers. Do I believe God is calling all of humanity to righteousness? Yes of course... but at the end of the day, every person has to choose salvation for themselves... you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink!

Of course I want EVERYONE to drink from the living waters found in Jesus Christ... but I am convinced they need to do that out of choice and not be politically levered into it.

I am very skeptical about people who go into party politics. Politics itself is a career path for people who desire power... and no matter how noble their intentions at starting out, no matter what they desired that power for... the old saying remains true - power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Does that mean I believe Christians should remain politically inactive and silent on issues that concern them? No, not at all. Some of the greatest forces for political change, were not politicians themselves: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the suffragettes - just some examples of people who were not politicians... but who irrevocably changed the nature of politics in their lifetimes.

If you want to use politics to advance the Gospel message, then the best way is not to debate about morality... but to use your resources to benefit the poor and needy It says in James 1:27 that:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

How wonderful is that? People should not identify Christians primarily by their political stance... but by their love!

Take care of people's physical, emotional and psychological needs and sooner or later they will ask you why you do it. The reason why we do it is because we love them and God loves them and we want them to know it in every way.

Pest Control for the Soul

Things are starting to stir at church at the moment and it is quite exciting. We may be just a ragtag band of regulars, but there is a sense that God's promises - made so long ago... are back on the horizon.

In my earlier blog of two weeks ago, I mentioned that there was a sense of solidarity at the funeral for Lilly (incidentally, people are still coming to the church and laying flowers on her grave), and I have to wonder if this was merely a foretaste of things far off.

I used to pray for big things in timid ways, but I've been convicted of that recently. I should be a lot bolder and last week i decided to put this into practice. I trudged the 2.5 mile trek to church and prayed that God would feed us with his Spirit. I doubted not.

The service was immensely powerful... as we sang "Come, Now is the Time to Worship", a storm passed directly over the church and when the song finished there was an almighty clap of thunder... but that isn't the only thing I heard, I heard the word "COME!"

When you get an invitation from the Almighty, you don't mess about. Since that time, there has been an increase in prayer among people at church... and I personally have felt God's p[resence much more strongly. This is the time. I get the feeling that the dinner bells are ringing and the doors are opening. This is when the people of God have to come back and start eating the banquet... because they need to be ready for what is coming afterwards. Dare we hold back and remain in the playground any longer... letting the gracious meal provided for us go cold? Dare we?

Today's bible reading came from Joel 2:21-27:

"Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed."

I've spoken before about how I believed God would do that for me personally, as well as the church generally. The autumnul rains have now both literally and metaphorically begun and God is raining down mercies upon me. Pest control is now firmly in place. My locusts are being severely culled and my personal harvest is being restored.

A scripture was laid on my heart all through Wednesday:

"A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all"

Now I want to point out here that I only consider myself righteous through the grace of God... there is nothing in myself that is deserving of having that title bestowed upon me. I want to put the emphasis on God here... because I've had that passage on my heart before... and I believe God was this time telling me that he is making good on that promise... and so I credit him and him alone with the glory.

I have decided that I am going to keep a financial record on this blog, once a month to illustrate to you... just one way, how this is going. I've always maintained an open door policy towards blogging. If something is going horribly wrong... I tell you... if however God is performing wonders... I tell you that too!

So here we go:

Current debt: £3,100+ interest
Current Status: 12 months to final payment @£310 a month.

The first payment comes out on November 2nd. You will receive an update then!

Celebrating Easter

Yes, well I still think it should be re-branded Resurrection Day - which sounds much cooler and is more relevant to what we celebrate.... nonetheless Happy Easter.

So how did I mark Easter here in the town of Alcester? It's been a long weekend:

On Thursday night I spent an hour or so, either side of midnight... quietly contemplating and meditating in my own church at Great Alne. It's a personal tradition of mine to do this somewhere. The way I see it, Jesus is my friend.... and 2,000 years ago all His friends deserted Him. I know I can't turn back the clock, but I like to pray for Him during the time He was alone in the Garden... yeah I know it sounds stupid but he died for my sins, offered me eternal life and is my friend and king... so I figure the least I could do is pray for Him during the time He had it rough (God is not bound by time, so I do not believe it matters that I pray after the event. It's a bit like in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - when they don't have time to travel back and change the past for their jailbreak... so they say they'll do it afterwards... and sure enough everything materialises as needed). Staying in the church also gave me time to write down a lot of my mental, spiritual and emotional baggage over the recent past... and it enabled me to pray through it and settle it with God. I did all this under the shadow of the cross which we had moved to the centre of the chancel. The church had also been decorated with articles that would help people meditate on the Passion of Christ. Things like a crown of thorns, a purple robe, a staff, a bowl of water, hammer and nails... you get the picture.

On Friday I took part in the annual March of Witness, where I learned that an old leader and friend of mine was severely ill with gall bladder complications - (please pray for him). I always like to bear the cross we carry on that march, on the final stretch to the Anglican church. It kind of feels right, seeing as I'm named after the place. We were joined this year by the BBC who had come to do a story on the daffodil cross (more later). If you live in the midlands, you may have noticed my conspicuous mug cropping up in one or two of the shots at the end of Midlands Today.

Later that evening I watched the live Manchester Passion. Some of the songs felt a little weird and not entirely accurate... but I was moved by the atmosphere and the acting. They had a giant cross procession taking place as the play was being acted simultaneously. This served as a reminder to me that... while history was being played out - the cross was ALWAYS coming. Before the nativity, before the exile, before Moses, before Abraham... yes even before Adam... I believe God was always intending to demonstrate his love for us in the most excellent way.

On Saturday I joined a party of individuals who were travelling to the hillside daffodil cross that was planted last year (and has bloomed in time for Easter once more). It's immense and watches over the passing traffic below - a constant reminder by it's shape, of Christ's sacrifice... and yet also a poignant reminder of his resurrection because of the new life in the daffodils. We listened to scripture, prayed and sung a few worship songs (I suggested When I Survey The Wondrous Cross) which I found very moving.

Last night I took part in the Easter "Fire" service. It's the Easter equivalent of Midnight Eucharist at Christmas... it's not as well represented, but it is very contemplative. I got soaked by the Rector who splashed everyone with baptismal water from the font. i breathed a sigh of relief at that point because last year there was an amorous couple in the churchyard... and it had echoed through the whole church - thankfully no repeat this year. At the end of the service we proceed out singing Latin stuff... but the best part is at midnight you come out of the church and yell "HE IS RISEN INDEED.... ALLELUIA!!!!" Now most Anglicans are quite sheepish and don't want to wake up the neighbours. not me. Oh yes... I went for it. The way I see it, every weekend the drunks yell all the time - either obscenities... or their undying love for a lamp-post.... so if people are prepared to put up with that, why shouldn't it be okay for us to do likewise?

Went home and got up in time for another service at my regular church. that about sums up my Easter so far.... now comes the chilling out that goes with the territory that is, the Bank Holiday.

I pray and trust your Easter was equally blessed. I've posted some photographs of the walk to the daffodil cross (you can see more pictures of it in one of my Easter blogs of last year).

Here is a link to a BBC story about the Daffodil Cross (but fortunately not the one with me in).

A St. Valentine's Day Card to God: The One Above All Others

Below are the words - verbatim, that I wrote down in a Valentine's Card and wedged under the Church door last night. I pray the words will not just be accepted as something from my own heart, my prayer is that others may be able to make it their prayer also:

Dear Lord

It's wonderful to have
Someone special
To be close to and love

- You're the best thing that ever happened to me.

Happy Valentine's Day.

I love you because you first loved me (1 John 4:19)
You are my shield and very great reward (Gen 15:1)

All my hopes and dreams are to be found and fulfilled in you. You are my first love and I wanted to declare that... because sometimes other things might seem more important - they are not! The things that distract me will only come by putting you first and waiting on you. You are good and your love endures forever. I praise your name:

Father - my Sovereign
Jesus - my Redeemer and King
Holy Spirit - my Comforter and Strength

"Thou and thou only the first in my heart,
High King of heaven my treasure thou art."

First Love

"We love because he first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

As people are no doubt aware, in less than a week St.Valentine's Day approaches. I was thinking about the above verse and the warning to the Church in Ephesus in Rev 2, regarding the need to retain God as our first love in the face of the things around us that can divert our attention.

I then had the idea of sneaking into a local Church on Tuesday and leaving a Valentine's card addressed to God (In true Milk Tray man fashion)... and then I got to thinking wouldn't it be good if Christians all over the place did something similar.

Some of you might regard that as corny - that's your right and prerogative. I see it as an opportunity to either demonstrate affirmation of our love for God, or a chance to say sorry for not putting God first. It is not about condemnation, it is not about pity it is about love - God's love and ours. I'm not doing this lightly, Valentine's Day in the past used to be a painful time for me and I used to react really negatively to any frivolity that came of it. I've lightened up since those days... and what to mark the day with something positive! The beauty of it is, you don't have to spend £10 on a really expensive card if you don't want to. You can make your own. The sentiment inside is what matters. It doesn't matter if you are attached or single - nobody loves you more than God - and this is an opportunity to acknowledge that.

If you are stuck, and can't get to a church but want to take part, you should be able to find an address at this website:

http://www.findachurch.co.uk/

I'm hoping to encourage more people to be like-minded. If you want to get involved, I'd be glad to hear from you. Trackback it, email it, chop my name off if you want I don't care. The more the merrier!

Can you imagine the look on your local minister's face when he next wanders into church and finds the altar completely covered in cards for God?

Daffodils... There is a Green Hill, Not So Far Away

With apologies to the late great William Wordsworth for a blatant rip off of his masterpiece, I thought I'd post something of beauty, to make you think. If you want to see the photo landscape for real though, it's on Primrose Hill, by the BP garage roundabout o the A46 just out of Alcester:

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A cross of golden daffodils,
Upon the hill, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars so bright
That twinkle on the Milky Way,
A humble but glorious never-ending sight
Upon the slope at break of day:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The trees above them danced, but they
Outdid the rustling leaves in glee:—
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company!
I gazed, and gazed, but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The Plot Thickens

Church was VERY interesting.

The person who had caused me problems wasn't there, and the cross was kept where it was for the service... and something strange is happening.

People are starting to rally to the cause... other people think it was a really good idea to put the cross in the chancel, rather encouragingly one of our congregation at University, who has come back for the Easter break told me that at his church, they always have a cross in the chancel. I'm not eager to rush into conflict, but I have a feeling that it's inevitable... to quote Sting "a gentleman will walk but never run", once your faced with something nasty you might as well deal with it, otherwise it's always going to be there. The sooner you deal with a problem, the sooner you can move on I guess.

The service was very good though, the praise and worship was Spirit filled, and I was really convicted over my "dolly out the pram" attitude... you know, things go wrong so you get tempted to sin out of feeling sorry for yourself!

Anyway tally ho!

Nick Versus Tradition

In an earlier post I promised you I would talk about why traditions and customs can be idolatrous.

Before I do that though, I think its only fair that I make one thing absolutely clear... some of the ancient hymns (e.g. Be Thou My Vision) I really love, and it's not the songs themselves I am knocking.

Idolatry isn't just people getting jiggy and dancing nekkid round totem poles... OK? Let's try and keep that image out of our minds LOL... depending on who's doing it, it's quite grim!

No, idolatry is when we let something, anything take centre stage in our lives instead of God. Yes, ironically this can actually include religious worship. Remember, the Israelites built the golden calf as an act of worship (although yes, admittedly, they were ALSO getting jiggy and dancing round it nekkid ).

One of my issues is that the older generations, are so afraid of letting go of some of these religions, they are stifling the growth of church. What are they afraid of? "If we let them sing Matt Redman songs... we'll never hear "proper" hymns again" Is that what they think? Firstly, I would say I think Mr Redman is one of the finest worship songwriters we've had in a long time... and in fact in a bit, I'll quote him. Secondly I say this. When I got a chance to praise God with my kind of music, it did not make me despise traditional hymns, it made me appreciate some of them even more... because I was somewhat closer to the source and object of that praise. What is truly important in worship, is not how old a song is, or how it's played or sung... but how sincere it is coming from your heart... that's it.

It's the same with liturgy (most of which was created primarily to combat heresy), if you recite words over and over again parrot fashion, there's a temptation inside... to switch onto autopilot and not really mean them. I sit in church sometimes, and hear the congregation utter the creed or the Lord's Prayer... and the congregation sound just like the Borg from Star Trek. There is a time and place for liturgy, but it is not beneficial to have a worshipful service, where the emphasis is on ink on a page and not Holy Spirit influenced hearts.

So before handing over to Matt Redman I'll leave you with a couple of scriptures:

Psalm 4:5 "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD."

Psalm 51:16,17 "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Jeremiah 7:22,23 "For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you."

Mark 12:28-34 "One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

And finally, the words to Matt Redman's Song "The Heart of Worship"

When the music fades and all is stripped away

And I simply come

Longing just to bring something that's of worth

That will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song

For a song in itself

Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about You All about You, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it

When it's all about You All about You, Jesus

King of endless worth, no one could express

How much You deserve

Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours

Every single breath

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it
When it's all about You All about You, Jesus

My only hope is that something written blesses someone

N

Racial Hatred Laws

I've received an e-mail from a friend of mine (thanks Em) regarding the proposed Racial Hatred laws. There are several Christian charities that are getting concerned that should the law be passed, it will severely hamper their work overseas.

Hard as it may seem for many people in the west to believe... there are places in the world where Christianity is still treated with much the same disdain that it received during the early Roman persecutions. There are places in the world where the dominant regional culture (whatever it may be) abuses or persecutes Christians and/or their places of worship.
The fear is, the wide mandate of this new law could technically make it illegal to speak out (in this country) against cultures that condone the abuse of the Church.

We should of course seek to stamp out something that discriminates against people because of their physical/ethnic background. However, I think questioning or openly criticising a persons ideas, motives and beliefs (when done respectfully and in good faith that something is badly wrong), is fair game... and I include my own beliefs, views and motives in that assessment.

I'm saying this as someone who has had to defend their faith from criticism from various quarters. People don't always agree with Christian viewpoints, and that's their prerogative. However, I'd never deny someone the right to question my faith... because then, how could I answer them?

It's for this reason I think religious tolerance should be encouraged rather than legislated.
The Christian charities are worried that they are going to face prosecution for speaking out against human injustices at the hands of religious/ideological extremists.

Incidentally for anyone wanting more info, I've added a link to the charity website Em sent me. Have a look, see for yourself and then decide on your own evaluation what to do!

N