"Please RT The Heaven out of This"

In case you were wondering, the title of this post is not an ego-driven request, it's a statement mirroring a Twitter post I observed the other day.

If you use Twitter  you may have noticed about a day and half ago, the active volcano known in comedic circles as Ricky Gervais began spurting ire from his caldera.  He flew into a tirade of aggressive posts directed at and seemingly mocking Christians. One of the these tweets had the following image attached with a request to "Please RT the Hell out of this":

The Recent Outburst from Ricky Gervais on Twitter

It's not the first time Gervais has courted controversy for aggressively baiting an individual or group on the Internet and I dare say it won't be the last. This particular series of tweets probably flew under the "outrage radar" because it was perceived as knocking the  oppressive religious establishment (I'm not so sure religion has the monopoly on oppression... not by a long chalk).  However, I think I understand what motivated his actions on this occasion.  Let's put a bit of context into the equation.  On the day these tweets came out, Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the northern states of the American Eastern Seaboard and US pastor John McTernan had posted a blog attributing the blame for the hurricane (and other natural disasters) squarely at the door of those who want to further the gay agenda.

This may have stuck in the craw of Gervais who as an ardent atheist must have found it deeply irritating that a group who by and large often deny the scientific theories implying human activity influences climate change, were turning the gun on their own political targets... which he believes to be fuelled by mumbo jumbo.

I think whenever Gervais feels he or somebody else he feels as undeserving becomes the recipient of bullying tactics and trolling, he resorts to the same tactic.

As a point of fact as a Christian I do believe humans affect climate change. While some preachers  will emphasise that God commanded mankind to subdue the Earth in Genesis 1:28, I take a different view.  Lets look at that verse in the Amplified Version of the Bible:

"And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth."

Genesis 1:28 (AMP)

It seems clear to me that God didn't just hand us the keys to planet Earth and say "do what you like with it". In point of fact, the Bible emphasises that God still retains the ownership deeds:

"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;"

 Psalm 24:1

Our lives are for rent... and we can't learn to buy (no matter what Dido sings); everything we acquire or build up in this life, once we relinquish it - becomes the property of another. Everything we have on this planet is for our time and we must use it wisely - be it wealth, health or the resources of the planet itself. We have to look after this planet because we don't own it... we just live here by the grace of the One who made it.

All this aside I want to address my main point... the words of Gervais about Christians, Hell & Santa:

"A Christian telling an atheist he is going to Hell is about as scary as a small child telling an adult they won't get any presents from Santa".

Ricky Gervais

The whole barb of that comment relies on the self righteous belief of atheists that their view is superior... that Christians have bought into a fairy story and that when they grow up, they will see the whole tale for what it is and dismiss it as myth.

However there's another problem... both the Christians and atheists in question - the messenger and the recipient, happen to have misunderstood the message.  In all his teachings, Jesus reserved his deepest warnings for the self-righteous. He never used fear as a weapon. when Jesus is talking to "sinners", He is at his most tolerant... be it the Samaritan woman at the well, Zaccheus, or the woman caught in adultery... Jesus's message is one of love and hope, not threat and damnation. Christians should not be beating up the broken with threats; that IS bullying. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict the world of sin... not ours. Our duty is to live out holy, Spirit-filled lives that reflect the glory of God... and when people starved of the bread of salvation ask us "why am I hungry" or "where can I get fed", that's when we provide THE answer. You can't batter someone who is resistant to your message into submission... it just doesn't work like that. All you will succeed in doing with that tactic is drive them away in fear or force them to come out fighting in anger... nobody wins. Love s the answer, always has been... always will be.

A wise man once told me a parable that illustrated this sentiment perfectly for me. It concerned a wager between the sun and the wind. Seeing a man walking down the road with his hat and coat, both bet that they could make him remove his extra apparel. The wind went first and blew as hard as it could... but no matter how hard it tried, it just encouraged the man to clutch his hat to his head and hold his coat as tightly to himself as possible.   The sun took its turn and poured as much of its warmth and light onto the man as possible... overwhelmed by the temperature, the man removed his hat and coat of his own accord and carried on down the path.

It's warmth and not force that wins the day.

But what about Santa?

I think Ricky has got it wrong. Christians are not the small child in this equation. Let me in counterpoint tell you how I think it works:

An atheist is like a small child who as he begins to grow up realises Santa doesn't exist* and is either bitterly disappointed and filled with a sense of loss... or shrugs his shoulders and thinks it doesn't matter anyway. Yet this child has not yet matured to the point of realising that for all the tales of Santa there is a very real parent who loves him, wants to provide for him and wants to have a full relationship with him. That parent is God. Far from being the foolish small child making threats to the enlightened, a Christian is the older sibling who understands that when you scratch away the superficiality of religion... you begin to understand that there is a deeper, more powerful truth behind it all - one that you wished your younger brother shared.

*Disclaimer - Santa IS real and I believe in him

Waterworld

If you are in the UK, you have probably noticed on the news, the atrocious weather we've been having recently.

Yesterday started off quite nicely as we abandoned the office at noon in order to avoid being stranded in Stratford-upon-Avon. Not bad going eh? Although for once I could do without the break because I want to get a few things sorted before going off on annual leave next week.

After an hour of journeying I was dropped off home and pretty much chilled out for the afternoon...although I did stock upon a few things just in case the worst happened.

At about 8pm I ventured into town to see how things were going, as I received a message from my mum to say that the main bridge in town was rumoured to be in danger of breaking. Mum was holed up at an aunts house and was unimpressed that I was intent on going up as far as the bridge, especially as the police had not yet received the authority to close it. On a side note, I thought that was crazy... why should police on the scene have to wait for an inspector behind a desk to make a judgement call?

By the time I arrived, the arches on the bridge were completely submerged and water was beginning to trickle up through drains onto the road surface. The police were struggling to keep pedestrians at bay.

The rain drove down on us relentlessly and eventually, several key roads were shut. Periodically the police would let people skip across to the other side. It is kind of hard to stop people returning to their homes on a Friday night after all.

As the bridge was now inaccessible to traffic, I advised a few people how they could get to the other end of the town by looping back and heading up the industrial estate (which apparently also was flooding). I also offered to help a lady move her bookshelves and stuff upstairs... just in case the waters headed her way, but she said she'd get family to do it.

I spoke to an officer about my concern regarding drinkers coming out of the pub at late hours...as there were only a few coppers about and there had already been one smart alec trying to force his way onto the bridge. This resulted in me nearly getting deputised, to the point of getting one of those seriously un-trendy yellow high visibility jackets...but under health and safety conditions the control centre declined the officers request.

Eventually as darkness fell, it became very clear that this was going to be a very bad flood. Elderly people had been evacuated to the town hall, and water was now was escaping the river banks directly and pouring liberally onto the road surface.

My mum and dad who had been busy attending to the elderly refugees in the town hall,now came and insisted I come back home. Despite wearing waterproof clothing, I had been out so long that the shielding they offered had been overcome and I was now soaked through.

I headed off and showered and got changed. Then made my way out with dad to help shore up my cousin's house which by now was firmly in the front line, as the water advanced. We took bags of compost and threw them over the fence. In the end it did little good, the water did not come from the front, the back,or even the sides... it seeped up from beneath... straight through the floorboards.

Having finished that, we took an old lady back to a residential care home, from the town hall via an extremely scenic journey.

I noted with concern how the water had reached as far as the corner of School Road and was now visible from the Birmingham Road... which I don't think happened even in the great flood of 1998... and as the car headed home, we were troubled to see how quickly the water had sprung up around the Globe Island... in the space of a mere half an hour.

I clambered into bed slightly paranoid that the water would advance even as far as where I live... but it was not to be. By 10:30, I set off for the town centre to examine the devastation first hand... it was still inaccessible from most directions and I had to walk across to the far side of town to take a proper look.

Gunnings Bridge still stood, but felt much more wobbly as you stood on it. On two occasions, I heard an explosion... I have no idea what that was. Further into the heart of the town, I waded across to the local supermarket and saw half the stock floating by the front door... some of which had clearly come from the far side of the shop.

Kids were cycling through the deluge and at one point I even saw a canoeist! Some joker had put down a "CAUTION: Wet Surface!" yellow bollard by the water's edge. It was soon swept away as two fire engines hurtled into High Street sending a surge of water in all directions, to the sound of a hearty cheer from onlookers.

I wandered about the town taking photographs with my mobile phone. You can see them here.

We are in for more bad weather over the next few days... and what is more I have to walk over 2 miles to church via roads that have been closed in the current floods. Maybe I should take the "Moses stick" my sister brought back from Mount Sinai for me. The buses are still running, so work shouldn't be a problem on Monday.

Its at times like these that we should appreciate the fact we live in a country that has the finance and infrastructure to deal with this kind of flooding... and when counting the cost,we should be mindful that we get off incredibly lightly in comparison to say... Bangladesh.

I should like to add that Evesham had it much worse than us... and from what I can tell, Stratford-upon-Avon has not been hit as badly as either Alcester or Evesham... and yet media coverage has largely centred on Stratford, although this is changing as the day goes on. Typical of the Stratfordians to hog the attention... it's what they do best.

So I speak for Alcester, lest no one else does.

Note for Benny, you might want to know that Leamington has ben clobbered as the river Leam burst it's banks at the centre of town.

Stewards of the Earth

I've been enjoying watching segments of the Live Earth concert this afternoon, so I kind of feel honour bound to cover the subject of climate change in a blog entry.

As a Christian, I hear many different viewpoints from other believers over this very issue. Some are skeptical. I think it is easy to be that way when many of us don't live on the front line, ironically the nations who cause the most damage are the ones with the technology to protect themselves best... and who are situated in locations where the consequences won't become truly apparent until it really is too late.

So is it any wonder that people with access to the information remain so cynical about it? Even among my friends there are those who don't believe that climate change is a genuine threat. Alcester is not a coastal town, it is nestled in a valley in the middle of England. It is a relatively "safe" environment. Yet 9 years ago during a period of torrential rain, the waters of the Arrow and Alne rose and flooded the town centre... many towns and villages suffered the same fate. It didn't make the news because the Good Friday Agreement happened on the same day. I remember driving home (which was an arduous task in itself), looking across the fields as we approached the town.... but the fields weren't there. As far as the eyes stretched, all I could see was an ocean of red water engulfing the land. Fortunately the damage in the town wasn't so bad... but I have never forgotten that image... knowing that when we see waters rise in other countries that don't have the ability to stem the tides, and it is only by virtue of where we are that we get off so lightly... is a sobering thought.

I'm sure the people of Sheffield and Worcester have probably thinking along similar lines in recent days. Are these just isolated incidents? I don't think so. We have had a couple of twisters in the midlands in recent years. I can't recall a time in the past century, let alone my lifetime where extreme weather has been so frequent. So I do believe things are changing.

I saw a documentary earlier this year called "God is Green", I was extremely concerned because there were church leaders who used a scripture to justify what they see as mankind's right to plunder the Earth and what he likes to it:

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.""

Genesis 1:26-28

As far as I am concerned they are extremely flawed in their thinking, theology and justification of such actions. It is true that God gave us dominion over creation. Yet time and again we have chosen to neglect one small matter...

... we also belong to God and are therefore answerable to him:

"To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it."

Deuteronomy 10:14

We don't own this planet in our own right, we are merely stewards and custodians of it.

Jesus once told a parable about a rich man who owned a vineyard and left it in the care of it's tenants. They proceeded to take advantage of their position, living it up and refusing to give the owner his rightful tribute. In the end the owner dispatches servants and even his son to resolve the matter... but they slay all of them. Jesus asked how the owner would react when he came to see things for himself?

Now of course, that parable is a warning against refusing God in our lives... but I believe that looking after this planet is part of that mandate. It isn't ours except by God's grace... when God gives us a gift, we should use it wisely and treat it kindly. If we are honest, we have not been doing that with the Earth itself... let alone many of our personal blessings.

Earlier this year I stumbled across a passage in James... and it was a bit of a wake up call to me as to why things like the abolition of slavery, Fairtrade and looking after the planet are important and part of serving God, if we live in comparatively wealthy circumstances:

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you"

James 5:1-6

Now I don't mean to get all apocalyptic... and of course I'm not suggesting any of have pointed guns at the heads of paupers and blown them away. Have we murdered people... simply by not caring about their fate whilst we accumulate wealth and possessions? My only real aim in writing all this is to make people (not excluding myself), seriously think about whether or not we have been remiss with regard to God and neighbour in the pursuit of material decadence?

In conclusion, I think I'm going to try and redouble my efforts with regard to showing compassion to people in need and to keeping the planet functioning correctly...

... until God calls time either on me, or the planet itself.