In the long battle against slavery in the 19th century, it was the voices of evangelical Christians such as William Wilberforce, John Wesley and Bishop of London Beilby Porteus who played an important role in swinging the domestic political debate in favour of abolition, alongside Quakers and others - religious and non-religious.
They did so because they realised that although there were verses in the Bible (for them the determining authority in life and conduct) that could readily be pressed into the defence of slavery, there was something much larger at stake in the Gospel message which led inexorably to the conclusion that the captives should be set free – as Jesus said in one of his defining sermons, as recorded by Luke.
On that basis they re-interpreted pro-slavery verses by understanding them as overwritten by the new order of grace brought about by Christ, as warnings about the partiality of human insight into the mystery of God's love, and as stage posts in a process of unfolding, deepening revelation.
Similar arguments are being heard today from a number of evangelical Christians over the question of recognising the civil, ecclesial and relationship status of lesbian and gay people. These evangelicals are still a minority, but they are a growing one. They bring to the challenge of changing the hearts and minds of their fellow believers the same moral and theological seriousness that motivated their forebears in the anti-slavery movement.
This week, four evangelical organisations joined together to remind their fellow "Bible people" that opposing hate speech and hate crimes against homosexual people – in this case the antics of the bizarre Westboro Baptist sect – means too little if you are simultaneously defending forms of prejudice and discrimination within your own communities.
The prime mover in this, Accepting Evangelicals, is a network of Christians who take the Bible with great seriousness, but who argue that what the handful of verses deployed by anti-gay campaigners address is not modern same-sex relationships built on mutual commitment and self-giving love, but practices of pederasty, cultic prostitution and abuse in very different cultural and religious contexts.
They are supported in this view by considerable biblical scholarship and by Christians of other stripes who share the conviction that being followers of Jesus in the modern world involves responsible freedom not backward-looking fear.
The recent statement was also signed by the Network of Baptists Affirming Lesbian and Gay Christians, the Evangelical Fellowship for Lesbian and Gay Christians, Ekklesia (which has many evangelicals on board), and by Courage UK – an organisation that started out as an "ex-gay" ministry but which has now shifted towards acceptance and inclusion as a Gospel imperative.
Courage UK, founded in 1998, was pushed to resign from the Evangelical Alliance in 2002 as a result of its changed stance. Those who head up major evangelical organisations know that there are dissenters in their own ranks, but they fear the debate that would result if this was acknowledged more openly. The hardliners in their midst also find succour in being seen as part of a righteous war against a supposed "liberal" enemy intent on diluting the Gospel message. Similar arguments were used to try to rebut the abolitionists.
It is strange indeed that opposition to same-sex relationships has become a litmus test for a certain kind of orthodoxy in some evangelical circles, despite the fact that Christ said nothing about it. On the contrary, he deliberately breached religious taboos against groups ostracised by the establishment, and he upheld actions like forgiveness and economic sharing as signs of authentic discipleship – not culture-based religious restrictions.
Change is on the way, nonetheless. The refusal of a mature debate on sexuality is being questioned and jettisoned in many parts of the evangelical world: among young people involved in fresh "emerging" forms of church life, in discussions at festivals like Greenbelt, and even in the counsels of the heartlands.
Last November the highly respected Richard Cizik resigned as vice president for governmental affairs with the 50 million-strong National Association of Evangelicals in the USA, following uproar over his comments that he is shifting his views on same-sex unions.
Many privately expressed agreement with Cizik. Influential evangelical leaders Tony and Peggy Campolo have publicly debated the homosexuality issue, with Peggy moving to an openly affirming position.
In Britain, pro-gay evangelicals have also been "coming out". A few years ago veteran Methodist preacher George Hopper published an online book that sums up the difficulty of the shift, but also its hopefulness. It is called Reluctant Journey – A pilgrimage of faith from homophobia to Christian love.
The struggle against anti-gay prejudice is not just a church one. In pubs, in tabloid newspapers, in homes and workplaces, rejection lurks behind thin facades of liberalism.
Evangelical Christians are deeply immersed in the problem. But if they learn from their history and re-read the biblical message in the light of its living centre, Christ, they can be part of a historic change.
REFERENCES
* Abolitionism and the Bible - http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-145473606.html
* Affirming Evangelical statement on gay people - http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/8749
* Information on Westboro Baptist Church – http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp
* Accepting Evangelicals - http://www.acceptingevangelicals.org/
* Courage UK - http://www.courage.org.uk/
* Reluctant Journey (online book) - http://freespace.virgin.net/gseh.rj/contents.htm
------------
(c) Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia. He blogs at http://faithinsociety.blogspot.com and his website is at http://www.simonbarrow.net. The latest book he has edited, Fear or Freedom? Why a warring church must change is published by Shoving Leopard. His forthcoming book, Threatened With Resurrection: The difficult peace of Christ, will be published soon.
This article is adapted from one that has also appeared on Guardian Comment-is-Free, with acknowledgments.
Simon Barrow has written at greater length on sexuality and biblical faith in Fear or Freedom?. See chapter 9.
Taken from Ekklesia.co.uk
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Tutu urges Obama to apologise.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged new US President Barack Obama to signal a real change of heart on Middle East policy by apologizing for the Iraq war.
Archbishop Tutu, aged 77, who is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said late last week that Mr Obama risked squandering goodwill from around the world if he failed to acknowledge mistakes and annunciate policies for "moving forward".
The archbishop, who is part of a network called "the elders" who are seeking to bring influence to bear on situations needing reconciliation and conflict transformation, also encouraged President Obama to support the International Criminal Court and to “come down hard” on African dictators.
The anti-apartheid figurehead warned in an article for the BBC’s website that the high hopes surrounding Mr Obama’s presidency could turn sour.
The president, he said, “could easily squander the good will that his election generated if he disappoints.”
Archbishop Tutu wrote: “It would be wonderful if, on behalf of the nation, Obama apologizes to the world, and especially the Iraqis, for an invasion that I believe has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.”
Article taken from Ekklesia think-tank 23/02/09
Archbishop Tutu, aged 77, who is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said late last week that Mr Obama risked squandering goodwill from around the world if he failed to acknowledge mistakes and annunciate policies for "moving forward".
The archbishop, who is part of a network called "the elders" who are seeking to bring influence to bear on situations needing reconciliation and conflict transformation, also encouraged President Obama to support the International Criminal Court and to “come down hard” on African dictators.
The anti-apartheid figurehead warned in an article for the BBC’s website that the high hopes surrounding Mr Obama’s presidency could turn sour.
The president, he said, “could easily squander the good will that his election generated if he disappoints.”
Archbishop Tutu wrote: “It would be wonderful if, on behalf of the nation, Obama apologizes to the world, and especially the Iraqis, for an invasion that I believe has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.”
Article taken from Ekklesia think-tank 23/02/09
The Bible, Violence & Sex - a conference of real issues.
Christian students want a more open and positive discussion about gender and sexuality within the churches, faith communities and college groups to which they belong.
The call came at an event entitled ‘Liberating Gender’, which formed the annual conference of Britain's Student Christian Movement (SCM), meeting near Kidderminster.
Speakers included the well-known Catholic feminist theologian Tina Beattie, who challenged Christians to find more truthful and liberating ways of reading biblical texts such as the creation narratives.
She suggested that when considering sin, churches needed to shift their focus from what could be a rather obsessive concern with sex to the challenge of violence, not least religious violence.
The second keynote speaker was Sarah Jones, the first transgender person to be ordained in the Church of England. She spoke of her experience of God's guidance as she grappled with difficult personal and ethical issues and dealt with reactions to her decisions.
Talking to Ekklesia, SCM's Rosie Venner insisted that gender issues should be important to Christians. “Understanding and exploring gender helps us to explore our relationships with God and with the communities we find ourselves in” she said.
She added that the event had considered “things that people often don't have the opportunity to talk about, to do so in a place that is affirming but where people are taken beyond the questions they came with, to find ways of taking that home and acting on gender injustice”.
A range of views and perceptions were heard at the event, which included regular prayer and worship alongside workshops and discussions on masculinity, sex trafficking, queer theology and the links between sexuality and violence.
The event brought together students from across Britain and beyond, of varied age, background and views. There were roughly equal numbers of male and female participants.
“It's the first time that some of these issues have gone into my head” said Matt Sanderson, aged 19, as he prepared to return to York University yesterday.
He expressed his hope that students would speak up on these issues at a time when Christian leaders are keen to retain the involvement of young people. “We've got a good opportunity for the Church to listen to us” he said.
“I feel really positive,” added Allie Tait, aged 21, who had not attended an SCM event before, “There's been a really good vibe and a few things that opened my eyes”.
SCM is Britain's oldest national organisation for Christian students and will hold its 120th anniversary service at Manchester Cathedral on 28 March 2009. It seeks to promote “Christianity that is inclusive, aware, radical and challenging.”
Article from Ekklesia think-tank - 23/02/09
The call came at an event entitled ‘Liberating Gender’, which formed the annual conference of Britain's Student Christian Movement (SCM), meeting near Kidderminster.
Speakers included the well-known Catholic feminist theologian Tina Beattie, who challenged Christians to find more truthful and liberating ways of reading biblical texts such as the creation narratives.
She suggested that when considering sin, churches needed to shift their focus from what could be a rather obsessive concern with sex to the challenge of violence, not least religious violence.
The second keynote speaker was Sarah Jones, the first transgender person to be ordained in the Church of England. She spoke of her experience of God's guidance as she grappled with difficult personal and ethical issues and dealt with reactions to her decisions.
Talking to Ekklesia, SCM's Rosie Venner insisted that gender issues should be important to Christians. “Understanding and exploring gender helps us to explore our relationships with God and with the communities we find ourselves in” she said.
She added that the event had considered “things that people often don't have the opportunity to talk about, to do so in a place that is affirming but where people are taken beyond the questions they came with, to find ways of taking that home and acting on gender injustice”.
A range of views and perceptions were heard at the event, which included regular prayer and worship alongside workshops and discussions on masculinity, sex trafficking, queer theology and the links between sexuality and violence.
The event brought together students from across Britain and beyond, of varied age, background and views. There were roughly equal numbers of male and female participants.
“It's the first time that some of these issues have gone into my head” said Matt Sanderson, aged 19, as he prepared to return to York University yesterday.
He expressed his hope that students would speak up on these issues at a time when Christian leaders are keen to retain the involvement of young people. “We've got a good opportunity for the Church to listen to us” he said.
“I feel really positive,” added Allie Tait, aged 21, who had not attended an SCM event before, “There's been a really good vibe and a few things that opened my eyes”.
SCM is Britain's oldest national organisation for Christian students and will hold its 120th anniversary service at Manchester Cathedral on 28 March 2009. It seeks to promote “Christianity that is inclusive, aware, radical and challenging.”
Article from Ekklesia think-tank - 23/02/09
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu 'Christians are regarded as mad'
Churchgoers are now "counter-cultural" because their values are so opposed to prevailing behaviour, claimed Dr Sentamu.
But he insisted that faith cannot be separated from the world of work, and that staff should not be expected to give up their religious convictions when they walk into the office.
Dr Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England and its first black Archbishop, also said the recession should lead to a rediscovery of what is truly important in life, just as Britons rebuilt the country after the devastation of the Blitz.
His comments come amid growing concern about the marginalisation of Christianity in public life.
Labour MPs want to sever the historic link between Church and state, which would end the right of bishops to sit in the House of Lords and remove the right of all residents to be married, baptised or buried by a parish priest.
Meanwhile public sector workers now risk being sacked if they talk about religion in the workplace, under "equality and diversity" rules.
New NHS guidelines state that doctors and nurses face harassment charges if they are accused of "preaching" to colleagues or patients, while a draft code of practice for teachers could be used by schools to discipline those who discuss their beliefs with pupils.
Caroline Petrie, a community nurse who is a devout Baptist, was suspended without pay for two months after she offered to pray for an elderly patient. Jennie Cain remains off work from her job as a primary school receptionist for sending a private email asking for spiritual support from her friends, after her five-year-old daughter was scolded for talking about Hell to another girl.
Latest figures show that courts dealt with 600 cases of workplace discrimination on religious grounds in the year to April 2008, up from 486 two years before.
A Christian registrar lost her job for refusing to take part in civil partnership ceremonies while a relationship counsellor was sacked after he refused to give therapy to homosexual couples. Both have been unsuccessful in their claims for unfair dismissal.
In a speech delivered yesterday to Holy Trinity Brompton church in west London, the birthplace of the Alpha Course, Dr Sentamu said: "Many Christians are living out their lives as the church dispersed in the world of business and commerce every day.
"They are involved daily in building the Kingdom and have the daily challenge of living by a set of values that the world thinks are mad.
"Their counter-cultural work and calling needs to be recognised, affirmed and supported.
"We bring to the table a particular perspective – the vision of justice and righteousness that comes from a creative and generous God. It is not as if we are the only ethically minded people on the block – far from it. But what we are called to in Christ often asks of us more, and beckons us to a bigger vision."
He added: "All of life is religious and there is a desperate need to reconnect the sacred and the secular. There is no more urgent time than now to break down the compartmentalised thinking that separates trust in God from the world of work.
"There needn't be a separation between what goes on in church and in our prayers – and what goes on in the office or in the boardroom or on the shop floor."
Over the past six months Dr Sentamu has criticised repeatedly the greed and recklessness in the banking sector that has led to the current financial crisis.
In his latest attack, he said: "In our imagination, addiction to growth, fuelled by over-borrowing (debt), stopped being a bad thing. Instead, it became a means to an end, a route to growth.
"The unfettered pursuit of profit was never going to deliver. It is this idolatrous love of money, pursuing profit without regard for ethic, risk or consequence, which led us to our current situation."
He conceded that "banking is an honourable objective" but went on: "Not the gambling casino in the basement of banking".
"History is littered with the moral bankruptcy of people who were Christian in name but not in behaviour, who were silent or indifferent in the face of dehumanising and destructive power of governments," he said.
The Archbishop said he was sure that London could get through the current recession since it had survived the Blitz.
He added: "Just as after the war they had to live through a time of pre-fabs and rationing, I believe we urgently need to rediscover what it is to rebuild the city in our day, and now, in this time of transition, we need to learn how to build it.
"It is all the more important in these crucial days that Christians take their faith with them to the workplace and put it to work in the business of the Kingdom of God."
But he insisted that faith cannot be separated from the world of work, and that staff should not be expected to give up their religious convictions when they walk into the office.
Dr Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England and its first black Archbishop, also said the recession should lead to a rediscovery of what is truly important in life, just as Britons rebuilt the country after the devastation of the Blitz.
His comments come amid growing concern about the marginalisation of Christianity in public life.
Labour MPs want to sever the historic link between Church and state, which would end the right of bishops to sit in the House of Lords and remove the right of all residents to be married, baptised or buried by a parish priest.
Meanwhile public sector workers now risk being sacked if they talk about religion in the workplace, under "equality and diversity" rules.
New NHS guidelines state that doctors and nurses face harassment charges if they are accused of "preaching" to colleagues or patients, while a draft code of practice for teachers could be used by schools to discipline those who discuss their beliefs with pupils.
Caroline Petrie, a community nurse who is a devout Baptist, was suspended without pay for two months after she offered to pray for an elderly patient. Jennie Cain remains off work from her job as a primary school receptionist for sending a private email asking for spiritual support from her friends, after her five-year-old daughter was scolded for talking about Hell to another girl.
Latest figures show that courts dealt with 600 cases of workplace discrimination on religious grounds in the year to April 2008, up from 486 two years before.
A Christian registrar lost her job for refusing to take part in civil partnership ceremonies while a relationship counsellor was sacked after he refused to give therapy to homosexual couples. Both have been unsuccessful in their claims for unfair dismissal.
In a speech delivered yesterday to Holy Trinity Brompton church in west London, the birthplace of the Alpha Course, Dr Sentamu said: "Many Christians are living out their lives as the church dispersed in the world of business and commerce every day.
"They are involved daily in building the Kingdom and have the daily challenge of living by a set of values that the world thinks are mad.
"Their counter-cultural work and calling needs to be recognised, affirmed and supported.
"We bring to the table a particular perspective – the vision of justice and righteousness that comes from a creative and generous God. It is not as if we are the only ethically minded people on the block – far from it. But what we are called to in Christ often asks of us more, and beckons us to a bigger vision."
He added: "All of life is religious and there is a desperate need to reconnect the sacred and the secular. There is no more urgent time than now to break down the compartmentalised thinking that separates trust in God from the world of work.
"There needn't be a separation between what goes on in church and in our prayers – and what goes on in the office or in the boardroom or on the shop floor."
Over the past six months Dr Sentamu has criticised repeatedly the greed and recklessness in the banking sector that has led to the current financial crisis.
In his latest attack, he said: "In our imagination, addiction to growth, fuelled by over-borrowing (debt), stopped being a bad thing. Instead, it became a means to an end, a route to growth.
"The unfettered pursuit of profit was never going to deliver. It is this idolatrous love of money, pursuing profit without regard for ethic, risk or consequence, which led us to our current situation."
He conceded that "banking is an honourable objective" but went on: "Not the gambling casino in the basement of banking".
"History is littered with the moral bankruptcy of people who were Christian in name but not in behaviour, who were silent or indifferent in the face of dehumanising and destructive power of governments," he said.
The Archbishop said he was sure that London could get through the current recession since it had survived the Blitz.
He added: "Just as after the war they had to live through a time of pre-fabs and rationing, I believe we urgently need to rediscover what it is to rebuild the city in our day, and now, in this time of transition, we need to learn how to build it.
"It is all the more important in these crucial days that Christians take their faith with them to the workplace and put it to work in the business of the Kingdom of God."
Where I'm at.
Well... I am busy. But really enjoying it. I am being taught how to pray a bit betterer (not that He judges) or more effectively, more in tandem with Him. I am listening to Him speak into my life, asking Him to shape my character and asking for a revelation of His ways. The revelation of His ways can seem so out there at times though. Not all that tangible. It's a bit like asking for an invisible gift, with no mass volume or weight you don't know if you have it, until it is shown to you or until you use it, without knowing it was there, and again it is shown to you.I want it to become clearer but the haze helps me look for Him, even if it is with squinting eyes and a confused mind that I seek Him, every now and then He reveals something that He has been working in me, that I have not noticed. Usually because I have been to focused on one detail.
I need a bigger picture.
Break our humanistic rooves off of our fallen-short-comfortable houses God. We need to know you, your ways, your perspective, your love and the way you view people more!
Help us to hear you, see you and love you.
Hosanna in the Highest!
I need a bigger picture.
Break our humanistic rooves off of our fallen-short-comfortable houses God. We need to know you, your ways, your perspective, your love and the way you view people more!
Help us to hear you, see you and love you.
Hosanna in the Highest!
Friday, 6 February 2009
Another Excerpt from Mr. Blair's speech.
I remember my first spiritual awakening. I was ten years old. That day my father – at the young age of 40 – had suffered a serious stroke. His life hung in the balance. My mother, to keep some sense of normality in the crisis, sent me to school. My teacher knelt and prayed with me. Now my father was a militant atheist. Before we prayed, I thought I should confess this. “I’m afraid my father doesn’t believe in God”. I said. “That doesn’t matter” my teacher replied “God believes in him. He loves him without demanding or needing love in return.”
That is what inspires: the unconditional nature of God’s love. A promise perpetually kept. A covenant never broken.
WOW!
That is what inspires: the unconditional nature of God’s love. A promise perpetually kept. A covenant never broken.
WOW!
An Excerpt from Tony Blair's speech at Obama's National Prayer Breakfast.
"Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.
From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.
And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost. You can see it in the arousing of the world’s conscience to the plight of Africa."
Can be found at www.ekklesia.co.uk
Very interesting and true. I believe in the toleration of people's faith in alternate 'gods', after all everyone is to make their own decision on faith. But I do not believe in the other gods. I do not believe that they have the power to bring you into purity, relationship or purity with the Creator, nor do I believe that they are the Creator.
From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.
And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost. You can see it in the arousing of the world’s conscience to the plight of Africa."
Can be found at www.ekklesia.co.uk
Very interesting and true. I believe in the toleration of people's faith in alternate 'gods', after all everyone is to make their own decision on faith. But I do not believe in the other gods. I do not believe that they have the power to bring you into purity, relationship or purity with the Creator, nor do I believe that they are the Creator.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
battle of the buses.
In a move which will surprise few and may end up interesting fewer, three Christian organisations are putting thousands of pounds into advertising campaigns to counter the 'atheist buses' backed by Richard Dawkins, the British Humanist Association and others.
The Christian Party, the Trinitarian Bible Society and the Russian Orthodox Church will now run 'pro-God' campaigns on 175 buses for a fortnight from 9 February 2009.
The Rev George Hargreaves of the Christian Party, who is famous for having written the none-too-pious hit single 'So Macho', has created a bus advert which proclaims: "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life." It will feature on 50 bendy buses in central London, east London and the West End.
The Russian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, has reportedly booked 25 supersize bus ads, backed by a sponsorship deal with Russian Hour TV, using the slogan "There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life."
The Trinitarian Bible Society will opt for a text from Psalm 53.1 that says: "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." This will feature on 100 buses.
Some scholars, such as Jose Portifa Miranda, point out that a better translation from the Hebrew might be "the rich person" rather than "the fool", and that the challenge was originally to powerful manipulators of faith rather than ordinary people buffeted by competing beliefs.
"This is all sadly predictable," commented Simon Barrow from the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia.
He added: "It is part of a societal trend to package and 'sell' beliefs of all kinds, as if they were commodities. Many people will feel this has little to do with anything Christianly or humanly edifying. One has to wonder whether the purveyors of pro- and anti-God slogans really think they will persuade people? It feels more like a war of position between groups who cannot resist 'having a go back'.
"But imagine if these tens of thousands of pound could be spent meeting human need and promoting understanding rather than sloganising. That might be both more persuasive and more useful."
Article can be found at www.ekklesia.co.uk
The Christian Party, the Trinitarian Bible Society and the Russian Orthodox Church will now run 'pro-God' campaigns on 175 buses for a fortnight from 9 February 2009.
The Rev George Hargreaves of the Christian Party, who is famous for having written the none-too-pious hit single 'So Macho', has created a bus advert which proclaims: "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life." It will feature on 50 bendy buses in central London, east London and the West End.
The Russian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, has reportedly booked 25 supersize bus ads, backed by a sponsorship deal with Russian Hour TV, using the slogan "There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don't worry and enjoy your life."
The Trinitarian Bible Society will opt for a text from Psalm 53.1 that says: "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." This will feature on 100 buses.
Some scholars, such as Jose Portifa Miranda, point out that a better translation from the Hebrew might be "the rich person" rather than "the fool", and that the challenge was originally to powerful manipulators of faith rather than ordinary people buffeted by competing beliefs.
"This is all sadly predictable," commented Simon Barrow from the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia.
He added: "It is part of a societal trend to package and 'sell' beliefs of all kinds, as if they were commodities. Many people will feel this has little to do with anything Christianly or humanly edifying. One has to wonder whether the purveyors of pro- and anti-God slogans really think they will persuade people? It feels more like a war of position between groups who cannot resist 'having a go back'.
"But imagine if these tens of thousands of pound could be spent meeting human need and promoting understanding rather than sloganising. That might be both more persuasive and more useful."
Article can be found at www.ekklesia.co.uk
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Snow.
Why is it that something so simple (and admittedly complex) can bring so much joy?
I love how snow, on it's own raises people's moods and level of emotion. If there is enough of it, people get an unscheduled day of rest, some time with the family & friends, to throw it at each other and complete strangers in the street or just to catch up on bits they have had stored up in their memory banks for ages!
Funny... how a day off can have that affect. A day that you choose to have fun, rest and spend with good company.
Yet the bible teaches, tells and commands us to take a day off a week to do these things in the name of God.
Isn't He clever?
He really does know what is best for us and at the personal abandonning of our selfishness we really do see what a gift the family, friends, neighbourhood, weather and yes, even GOD, can be to us.
God thank you for snow and the fun and the rest it brings.
SNOW.
Poem from the weekend away
Alone, Angry & Abandoned - But Jesus is near.
Shocked, Sad & Scared - But Jesus is near.
Lost, Lonely & Left in the Lurch - But Jesus is near.
Worried, Wondering & in the wilderness - But Jesus is near.
Nearer than air in my mouth - Jesus.
Nearer than a cloud to sky - Jesus.
Nearer than the dearest friend - Jesus.
Nearer than the world - Jesus.
Written by 'Anonymous'
Shocked, Sad & Scared - But Jesus is near.
Lost, Lonely & Left in the Lurch - But Jesus is near.
Worried, Wondering & in the wilderness - But Jesus is near.
Nearer than air in my mouth - Jesus.
Nearer than a cloud to sky - Jesus.
Nearer than the dearest friend - Jesus.
Nearer than the world - Jesus.
Written by 'Anonymous'
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