| Phil's blog |
| Post Date 24 months 12 days (Nov 17th 2008) |
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There's something I want to talk about, but I am not going to use the word for it. By the time you read the rest of this you will probably know what the word is, but in case you don't, I'll put in a link at the end.
The reason I don't want to use the word is that the word has so many different associations. For example it is linked to the EU, (which will put some people off for ever) to the AA and RAC (which sounds rather up market for some), to E Bay and Facebook, (which brings it a bit more down to earth), to Old Boys' Associations, Allotment Societies, The Women's Institute, Girls Aloud Fan Club, and Churches!! And that's the problem! When we use this word in association with church we will so quickly make an association with some other grouping, and that will colour, prejudice, shape our understanding of what this means. And more than that it has led churches to interpret this in such terms as well, turning church into just another organisation. For me there is only one association I believe that as a Christian I am to make between this word and church, and that is the link to the Bible. So here are some verses from the Bible to think about! They are all taken from the Contemporary English Version. 1 Corinthians 12v27 Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body. Romans 12v55 That's how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another. Ephesians 5v30 Because we are each part of his body. When the Bible teaches us about the church the clearest description that we find is the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ according to the Bible is not to be found in decayed remains in some tomb: (Jesus rose from the dead.) But neither is it limited to a specific place in Heaven, (which if we understand right is not a place at all in the physical sense of the universe.) The Body of Jesus is where His Presence is found, and on earth that is the Church! Not the building, not the organisation, but the community of believing people who meet together in Jesus name. Matthew 18v20 Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you. If you are someone who believes in Jesus, (not just a mental thinking that Jesus is a good idea, but believing in a sense of personal commitment to this man, who is God's Son, who lived and died and rose again, and through whom we find forgiveness of our sin, access to God as our Heavenly Dad, and life by His Spirit;) if you believe like that, then when you come together with others who believe you are in __________! Without thinking like that we are always going to struggle with this word. And even worse we are going to disagree and debate about what being a ______ of the church really means. But when we think like that, and understand that we are part of His Body, here on earth, sharing His love, showing His grace, and letting His Spirit work in us, then we will have no problems being in __________ with the local community of believers the church. It will never mean what it does in other cases. It will mean what it should, the amazing privilege of belonging to God's family in Jesus. And if you do not believe in Jesus, I guess one reason you may not, is because of the church, that can be so far from what it should. But don't blame Jesus for that. Find Him and then find His Body on earth, and you may be quite surprised. Yours as a part of His body Phil http://www.answers.com/membership |
| Post Date 23 Months 23 days (October 29th) |
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My last blog was written from Romania, during my recent visit, which was about supporting and training men and women for Christian ministry in that country.
I have been to Romania many times. My early visits were long before the Communist Regime was overthrown in 1989, so I have been able to see a country change dramatically over a period of 30 years. But then as I think about it, our country has changed as well. 30 years ago Romania had few cars on the roads, and lots of horses and carts: today there are far too many cars on the roads, and only a few horses and carts! But in the same time our roads have become equally clogged with traffic. 30 years ago in Romania there was plenty of worthless paper money with which to buy goods, but nothing in the shops to buy. Today in Romania there is everything in the shops that we can buy in the UK, but not enough money, that now is a modern western currency, to buy them. But in the same time our income has gone up by at least a factor of 10 if not more. 30 years ago we had things to buy, but only bought them if we could afford to pay for them. Now we have more choice than ever before, but increasingly we don't have the money to pay for them or for the many things we bought on credit in the past 10 years. There are other changes though, far deeper than just the economic ones: social changes, changes in confidence, changes in happiness, changes in freedom. Generally speaking we are much better off than we were, but far less content than we were. That is generalising I know, but the reality is our society has changed. Then I thought about my reason to go to Romania; to support and train men and women for Christian ministry. And I thought, this hasn't changed over 30 years, either in Romania or here. What we all need, and I am included in that, is encouragement that our lives are significant these days, that we have a reason to live. And our Christian reason is that we are God's people and He has a ministry for us, of sharing the grace of God. There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing that. And if I can carry on encouraging you to live for Jesus, for just one more day, then I am content. Of course to live for Jesus you do need to believe in Him, and receive him. So this blog has to be for you to complete...... (P.S. .... do let me know at phil@bbchurch.org.uk how you've finished it!) |
| Post Date October 2nd 2009 Romania. |
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I am writing this from my room, in the retreat house where we are staying, which is on a hillside, overlooking the central Carpathian mountains in Romania. Out of my window I can see slopes clad in pine forest, hillsides crawling with sheep, and mountain tops covered with snow. It's a beautiful place.
With me are 22 Pastors and leaders from two of the poorest parts of Romania, who have come together for four days of teaching and worship and ministry. I have been speaking with them in the mornings and evenings. For a couple of hours in the afternoon they have been out and about, some of them foraging for wild mushrooms in the forest, and encountering brown bears (really). Apparently earlier this year a brown bear mauled to death one of the shepherds in this valley, so they are particularly careful. (They told me that after I had been for a walk on my own in the woods!!) The sessions have been very challenging for me and them. We have been going through the book of Romans, and I have sought to show them how Paul is speaking about Life in the Spirit as the characteristic of the Christian, no longer under law but under grace. Among the group are three older Pastors who have been brought up in a very narrow, legalistic way, and they have been gracious enough to open their hearts to listen and respond. There are younger men who have been eager to grasp the love of God, poured out in Jesus. And there is one quite young Pastor, the only one who is college trained, who has been very quick to bring opposite opinions and share the "party line" that has been taught in the colleges in Romania. This line essentially says we are saved by grace but we live the Christian life by law. I have often come across Pastors like him, and spent many hours sharing with them. I cry for them, and I long so much for them to find the true freedom that Jesus wants to bring to us. Not a freedom to do what we want, but a freedom to live under the Spirit, with His grace and power controlling our lives. We have talked a great deal about mission. This Christians here are very eager for evangelism but need to understand more how to share with their lives as well as their sermons. This young Pastor, in spite of his debating, has I believe has seen that and is doing some excellent things among his group of village churches. At the final meeting I spoke about hope. I gave them the prayer of Paul in Romans 15 which says "May the God of hope with you with joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." As I explained the reality of Christian hope and the basis of that in our encountering Jesus, as Saviour and Lord, and then spoke of the power of the Spirit as the source of this hope, there was a real opening up to the message. It was like the sun came out! The young pastor was deeply touched and afterwards shared His testimony how God has really been softening his heart. We ended praying for the power of the Spirit in our lives, and that I am sure is not only the key for them but for us, for you. We cannot live the way of Jesus, the life of grace, in this tough world without the Spirit's power. Did you see the news story of the Swiss Pilot who crossed the channel by jet pack? There's o ay we can do that without power! And there's no way we are going to reach out with the Gospel, and effectively be the Church God has called us to be without the power. So let's keep asking God for His power. And then let's be willing to launch out, and use it for His Kingdom purposes. One more thing.....there is plenty more of the power available; which is just as well as I have to do the same teaching over again next week, with a different group of pastors! Phil |
| Post date 22 Months 17 days. (September 22nd 2008) |
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I've just been listening to a radio programme talking about the financial crises of this past week. The opinion being expressed was that the way banks operate in the future will be changing very significantly, returning to the era of local banks, providing a personal service to local customers. "More like the days of the bank manager Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army!" There is a general acceptance that the way people have been allowed to borrow so much money has caused the current failure of the system.
I have two reactions to this. First righteous anger! (at least I hope it is righteous) Righteous anger is not directed personally aggressively against people, but is anger at the evil that is at work in the world. And my anger is that the victims of this borrowing bonanza are the poorest people. We've seen African countries brought to their knees because of foreign debt. Some of that (but by no means enough) has been wiped off. Now we see families brought to their knees for the same reason. The rich will weather this crisis with hardly a change in their lifestyle, but the poorest will suffer. It is so good that at this time, we as a church have believed God has called us to work with people with debt crises, through the agency of "Christians Against Poverty." Soon we will be opening for business and we will be happy to help you in any way we can. If you have personal debt problems please call the Christians Against Poverty free phone number 0800 3280006. If we can help in any other way a simple e-mail to office@bbchurch.org.uk will be enough. My second reaction is to remember something Jesus said, which may surprise you! "Give to the one who ask you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." Matthew 5v42. We have become such a society of private ownership that we have lost the sense in which to share what we have with others, especially with those who have less than us, is the right way to live. I believe we need to realise far more than we do, that what we have is God's gift to us, not our right, And if someone needs something we have then we should be willing to give it, no strings attached. The early Christians lived like that. When I think of needs around the world. I am ashamed at how selfish and possessive we are. So my challenge to myself in this crisis to find a way of sharing something I have with someone else. It may be money but it may be a car, or a house, or a meal. Don't go down the road of comparing the size of what you can share with others. We all have such different resources. But do go down the road of sharing what you have, very specifically with someone in need. After all God has shared His life with us. And without that we'd be in a far bigger mess than even the banks! |
| Post date 21 months 17 days (August 22nd 2008) |
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One of the buzz words in business is "Networking". Perhaps one day there will be a university degree course in networking, and we will have professional qualifications of networking! (how about Fellow of the Networking Institute..... or F Nit!)
Two thoughts about this:- First I went for a ride this summer on the North Yorkshire Steam railway. It runs original mainline steam trains on the line from Pickering to Grosmont, and on special days right as far as Whitby! We were staying at a camp site in a small village called Sheriff Hutton some 9 miles North of York. Visiting the York Railway museum I found a map of the Rail network that used to exist in Yorkshire. Sheriff Hutton had a station, and so did nearly every other village in the county! The network was huge. Today there is virtually nothing left, except the part maintained as a tourist attraction over the moors. And yet the roads are clogged with traffic and crumbling with over use. Whose short-sightedness shut down that network? Well it has to be Dr Beeching, (except I dislike putting blame on someone I've never met and don't know!). But the reality is that networks matter and we loose them at our peril. Second thought is of the only networkers I can think of in the Bible story, the fishermen who were on the lake side, mending, (or working) their nets, when Jesus called them to be part of his team, catching men. The truth is that Christian are called to be networkers, reaching out, making connections, and drawing people to Jesus, by our love and care. Where a churches network is small it's influence will be small. We need to be a networking church, reaching out to many others; including anyone reading this blog. So if you are reading this blog and would like to make the connection more personal, please feel free to drop me an e-mail at phil@bbchurch.org.uk |
| Post Date 20 Month 17 days (July 22nd 2008) |
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They say that beauty is only skin deep. Certainly we pay a lot of attention, not to say money, on looking good, far more than any previous generation of human beings. The question is whether or not we think that life is only skin deep, whether it's only about the superficial, the visible, the physical, or whether there is a depth to life, a depth to us as people that gets underneath the glitch and fashion and beauty treatment.
Ask some people whether life is deeper than "skin deep" and you will certainly get a positive reply: people whose skin-deep-life is threatened by disease, or whose skin-deep-possessions have been destroyed in a flood, or whose skin-deep-lifestyle has been stolen by credit. For them life is about pain, anxiety, distress and often fear; emotions and realities far deeper than skin-deep-appearances. But for many others these sort of things are just not to be thought about. There's a skin-deep-life to be enjoyed, so why spoil it with deep thoughts? Here's how one writer puts it, "Postmoderns live on the surface, not in the depths, and theirs is a despair to be tossed off lightly and which may be alleviated by nothing more serious than a sitcom."1 And if the word "postmodern" is new to you, it is a way that writers express the culture of the Western World of the late 20th early 21st Centuries. But we are foolish if we only think and live on the surface! The very fact of our existence on the planet earth should itself tell us the deep things matter! We live on plates of rock that are between five and twenty five miles thick. Sounds a lot except that there are about 3,950 miles left before you get to the centre of the earth! Our crust is less than 0.5% of the thickness of the earth! A VERY VERY THIN SKIN!! Every now and again what is underneath, a molten mixture of chemicals bursts out onto the surface. What is deeper both sustains our superficial existence and at the same time threatens it! Deep things really do matter. Christian faith can be superficial as well, skin deep: the religious performance, the trying to be good, the singing of songs, and the saying of prayers. But there is a depth in our faith to be explored! The Bible encourages us to "keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience".2 And when we keep hold to deep truths, we are not going to be affected by all the skin deep changes that happen in life. Instead when life's deep issues come we have a depth of trust in God to hold us. Of course getting deep down is an effort. The best vegetables on the allotment come from those gardeners who dug the deepest, (and that's not me!) Over the summer why not dig deep into the faith? Take time to really engage with God. Don't just say prayers, but have a heart to heart with the Father: tell him what is really going on and listen for his response. Don't just read a verse now and again, take a book of the Bible and eat it!! I am going to do that with the gospels in readiness for the Autumn series. And don't just listen to the latest episodes of Big Brother, why not listen to some deep stuff? I commend to you the web site www.newfrontiers.xtn.org. If you click on downloads, and then on the leadership international 2008 section, you will find scores of excellent talks. The 9 main sessions give plenty of food for thought, but there's loads more on the training tracks and seminars. This isn't about stressing ourselves with academic study, but it is about taking God seriously! And taking life seriously as well. You may not be culturally in with the crowd, but who said the crowd is right? Yours in deep digging Phil |
| Post Date 19 Months 27 days (July 1st 2008) |
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Yes, that is the right date. The previous blog had the wrong post date on it....my fault for working to a different calendar! And if none of that makes any sense to you don't worry about it. The fact is I made a mistake.
And I've been thinking about that a lot recently. Making mistakes is part of life for all of us. The question is, does it matter? It mattered a lot for the guy who lost his lap top with sensitive personal information on it, it was extremely serious! It mattered rather less for our friend who lost her cardigan whilst walking around the RSPB reserve last Sunday. Especially as we walked back along the path and found it again. It mattered a lot for the French tennis player Gasquet who lost his serve against Andy Murray when two sets to love up, and serving for the match. Gasquet ultimately lost the match! It mattered a bit less when I was playing chess against the computer and put my queen on a square where the piece could be taken. All I had to do was reverse the move and try another! But that's the problem with mistakes, in the real world there is rarely the opportunity to go back and do it again. I said something that upset someone: I can't go back and say it again differently, what has been said, stays on the record. You make a mistake at work, and you can't go back and re-run the moment, you have to live with the consequences. And here's another problem with mistakes. The little ones are just as likely to cause us problems as the big ones; little errors of judgement, little mistakes of behaviour, a little loss of temper, a tiny glimpse at that pornographic internet site, just a little flutter, just a brief affair. These "mistakes" are actually something rather more serious. The word mistake literally means to wrongly identify something or someone. We mistake someone for someone else. We mistake what someone says, thinking they meant something different. However the word has come to mean more than that. A mistake means something wrong. And the Bible has its word for that, which is sin. The doing of wrong is not just wrong to someone else, or wrong to ourselves, it's wrong to God. And there is no such thing as a little sin, a trivial sin, a white lie, a minor offence, an "it doesn't matter" error. The word on the street is all too clear, "the wages of sin is death". (Romans 6v23) But I hope that you know there is another half to this verse, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." That is the most powerful truth we Christians have to share. Mistakes do matter but there is a gift from God that gives us life again! God doesn't let us run the moment over again, and pretend it never happened, but He does allow the eternal consequences of that event to be taken by Jesus, and for us to go free. The gift comes "in" Jesus: no Jesus, no gift of eternal life. Accept Jesus, (which the Bible talks of in terms of repentance, turning from sin, and faith, turning with trust to Jesus) and you will have eternal life. When I do that I need never live under condemnation for my mistakes. But I do need to express my heartfelt apology, first to God, whose mercy forgives me, and then to those who I may have hurt, whether they forgive or not. But that's another issue for another blog! Never think you won't make mistakes: Never take mistakes lightly: But forever be grateful for the way God gives us His way of dealing with them. Yours in mistake-making, and grace-receiving, and Jesus-accepting, Phil |
| Post Date 20 Months 15 days. (June 15th 2008) |
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The e-mail told me they were reminding me I had just 24 hours left to book a flight to Bordeaux for only £4.99 including taxes, (limited availability: terms and conditions apply). Who were they? This anonymous person irritating me with yet another reminder! I'd had at least four already, and no, I do not want to go to Bordeaux.
Why is it we are irritated by people who keep reminding us of stuff? Maybe you're not, but I confess I am! "Don't forget to put the bins out before you leave." "Don't forget to shut the windows." "Don't forget to buy a congratulations card." "Don't forget to phone your mother." And those notes..... "Bring in the washing if it rains." "Post the letters," and the things to do list! And maybe at work, some of you know what I mean, the endless e-mails from the boss, or the team manager; the constant reminders of targets, of customer interface protocol, (or some such terminology!); the welcomer in the supermarket coming over the p/a system and reminding me of the latest offers. Is it we don't want to be reminded, or is it we resent the thought that just maybe we have forgotten? None of us likes to admit to a faulty memory, but all of us suffer from a faulty memory! Memory is an amazing feature of our lives. Our brain stores millions of bits of information, and our memory retrieves them just like a "google" search. Oh that it were that simple! According to one scientific journal, "scientists have shown that even though you've had an apparent memory lapse, your brain never forgot what you should have done." The problem is not so much in the storage system as in the retrieval system, the search engine. As scientists explore the memory, they have demonstrated how exercising our memory plays a part in keeping the search engine working. Like any engine, both regular use and regular maintenance prolongs its life. It's good to keep our memory search engine working well. So we really ought to be grateful for all these irritating reminders!! There's a small letter in the Bible, it's Peter's second letter which has this great word in it.... "I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live." 2 Peter 1v12-13 And later he writes, "Dear friends this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders, to stimulate you to wholesome thinking." 2 Peter 3v1 The things he wants to remind them about are the things of our faith in Jesus, Jesus life among us, His death for us, and His resurrection and exaltation, and His presence with us now and always by His Spirit. Peter is saying I want to remind you JESUS IS AROUND! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, He is with you. This reminder is so worth having. The danger is that we are irritated by it, just as with all the other reminders. But this one REALLY MATTERS. The reminder is no guarantee we will remember! But it really does help! So let me keep reminding you, here on the blog, when we meet, (which is one reason we need to meet!) and any way I can, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that means he sees everything, cares about everything, and wants you to seek His strength and love in everything. And as a reminder why not read the second letter of Peter yourself? Yours in forgetfulness Phil |
| Post Date 19 Months. (June 5th 2008) |
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Don't overplan!
Making plans is big business! If you want to start a business you need a business plan. If you have a business you have to keep planning ahead. Teachers have to make lesson plans. Salespeople have to make daily travel plans. Planning is part of life! I've been planning this week so far for....the coming weekend; the following weekend's teaching on the Old Testament, a dedication service later this month, a teaching series in the Autumn, a teaching programme for Romania in November; and that's just one part of the planning. I've also been planning visits to Denmark, Southampton and Wales to see family, plus a family get together next summer in Devon. We're trying to plan for at least 5 different people to come and stay this summer. And so it goes on. Many of you will have equally if not more complex planning going on. Imagine my surprise when I read this week "The life of Jesus it has been said, was absolutely planless."1 The writer went on to talk about how Jesus never kept a five year diary, or booked appointments weeks in advance. How he was not dictated to by fixed agendas or daily things-to-do lists. But rather how he was "marching to the deep heartbeat of his Father's unwavering resolve."2 The plan was a big plan, to give his life for the world. Everyday Jesus commitment was to be guided by the Holy Spirit as to where and how he was to give himself. So sometimes it was in time with His Father, worshipping and praying, sometimes it was in teaching his friends as they walked around, sometimes it was in talking with the crowds and healing the sick. But always it seemed he had time for people. He could stop, (which you can't do if you are plan driven) and deal with a need, a cry, a question, as it arose. Planning must have its place, and many people in their working lives have very little room to move outside that plan. But there is a truth we neglect at our peril. It is written in the book of James in the Bible and it says, "Now listen, you who say, 'today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'if it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"3 Suddenly, something happens that throws all our plans into chaos. It maybe a traffic jam that holds you up for two hours on the motorway, or a storm that floods your house, or a sickness that keeps you in bed, or a family need that unexpectedly arises. (For me a text message, even as I wrote this blog!) What then? If everything hangs on the plan we are in deep trouble. But if we have found like Jesus, the secret of "marching to his Father's unwavering resolve" then no matter what happens we can maintain a sense of balance and ease. That unwavering resolve of the Father is for us to know him day by day, as the one who is with us, and to receive from him day by day the grace and strength we need for that day, and to give away day by day something of His love to someone else. That is a purpose worth getting up for. |
| Post Date 18 Months 16 days |
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Fires that don't go out!
When a crowd hears the cry "Fire" everyone panics! And the first thought is how do we get away from here. We are conditioned from childhood not to play with fire, and rightly so, because fire is dangerous! So why does God choose to show himself in fire. In fact the Bible goes further than that it says, "our God is a consuming fire!" (That's in Hebrews 12v29) We too easily forget that without fire we would not be here! At the heart of the universe is fire... And our little planet earth only has life on it because of the fire in the sun. It is our taming of fire that has led to much of the so called development of mankind, our ability to use fire to our advantage... No fire, no hot meals, no internet, (needs electricity, produced by fire, mostly - well actually totally - because if it wasn't for the sun's fire there would be no solar energy or wind power, or a weather system that can produce hydro-electric power) no metal objects, no bricks... etc.! Fire has the ability to change things, to purify metals, to fuse substances together, to initiate and sustain reactions. My greatest delight at school was to sit in the chemistry laboratory with a Bunsen burner and some test tubes and play with the chemicals! (They were the days when that was what we did!!) And the reality is that God does all that sort of thing, with us. He changes us! The fire of his Spirit comes to purify us, to burn off all the rubbish, bitterness, anger, malicious talk, lies, addictive behaviour, selfishness and greed, pride, and rejection. But He also comes to fuse us together with Jesus, to weld us into an amalgam in which Jesus works in us and through us. We comes to join us together as a body of believers that can bring the life of God's goodness to this world. I believe church is where we should welcome the fire, and all the reactions it brings; but too often we cherish the fire extinguisher. OK we need a Fire and Safety policy, and around the building you will see notices about fire Escapes and Fire Extinguishers, but spiritually, I'm praying for more fire, and more reactions. |
| Post date 18 months 2 days. (May 7th 2008) |
Human beings live in a very very small temperature range. For most of us, we live no lower than from a few minus degrees Centigrade to no more than 30 degrees plus centigrade. Some humans live in extreme conditions, where they may live between temperatures of -40 and plus 50, but even that is only a range of 90 degrees. The universe has temperatures far in excess of that.
This Sunday the Christian community celebrates the festival of Passover! And it should be really hot! There are three great Jewish feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The Christians adopted Passover for their celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection, and we call that Easter. Tabernacles has got mixed up with Harvest (but that's another story!) And the other great Christian Festival is Christmas! Easter eggs, Harvest suppers, and Christmas Pudding...... What about Pentecost! Pentecost fires! That's what it should be. But of course that's far too dangerous to ever be commercial. Think of it; a weekend when everyone is allowed to set fire to anything, fireworks, bonfires, wild fires. I suppose we could tame it all to candles, but that would miss the point! The point of Pentecost is fire. The fire of God's presence, coming in the Holy Spirit, setting fire to the Church, to make it burn with the heart of God's love, that can go out and melt the hard-heartedness of our world, and ignite people with the flame of grace that forgives their sin and remakes them as God's beloved people. And one other thing about Pentecost... Christmas and Easter are festivals for the world! And the world joins in, however much they misunderstand, with their presents and chocolate, and holidays. But Pentecost goes past the world unnoticed. Because it isn't for them it is for us, the church. This is the festival for us to catch fire again; and if really did, then the world would notice! Festivals are all very well to remind us, as long as we remember that Jesus came for every day, he died and rose to give us life everyday, and the Holy Spirit has come to set us on fire every day!! Don't miss it! (and I don't mean the festival, though it would be great to see you this Sunday) I mean the fire. (Next week I hope to add another blog, because there's more to this fire!) |
| Post Date 17 months 10 days. (April 15th 2008) |
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Let me start with another apology from my first blog, a mistake pointed out by another sharp-eyed and knowledgeable Star Trek watcher. I gave Captain Kirk the wrong middle name initial.....he is of course Captain James T Kirk, (not C, as I erroneously wrote.)
Getting names right is a sign of good friendship. Friends know each other by name. And of course I cannot claim to be a friend of Captain Kirk so perhaps I can be forgiven for getting his name wrong! One of the challenges of getting older is that you have more and more people you have known over the years, and whose names you increasingly struggle to remember! I've been thinking a bit about friendship. What are friends for? There's song title if ever there was one, and of course there are hugely successful songs with that title! The vulture song from "The Jungle Book", and Stevie Wonder's song are just two of them. The classic sitcom "Friends" gained its appeal from touching something in everyone, about our experience of friendship. In the story lines the friends are forever falling in and out with each other, they upset each other, they frustrate each other, they lie to each other, and they cheat on each other, and yet they also help each other and encourage each other, and enjoy each other's company. So what's the secret? Let me share one thought with you, tell me what you think of it. The fundamental importance of friends is not that friends meet my every need, whatever that might be, but that friends make me count. As long as we look to our friends to meet all our needs we are heading for trouble. Nobody can do that. Some of our needs they may help with, and that's fine but there are others they can't and won't be able to meet. And if we expect them to we will get frustrated and fall out. But what they can do is simply to make us count. So often we feel we don't count, at work, in society, even sometimes at home. Friends, by being friends, simply say "You count". One of the most amazing statements is the Bible is Jesus saying to his followers "I no longer call you servants; instead I have called you friends." (John 15v15) As a Rabbi, or Teacher, those who followed him, who lived by his teaching, were called his servants. Many people think they follow Jesus, or try to live by his teaching, and they would be called servants of Jesus. But Jesus says, "I call you friends". That is something far more: Jesus counts us among his friends. He knows us by name and he will never forget us. "You are precious to me, I have chosen you, I have engraved you, (tattooed you) on the palms of my hands." (Isaiah 43v4, 41v9, 49v16) You may have at one stage in your life put a tattoo of a special friend on your arm or leg or somewhere else, only to find later on you lose that friend. The tattoo is then an embarrassment. God's tattoo of you is never an embarrassment to him; you are his friend. He makes you count. I suppose the challenge is do we accept his friendship and make God count? In a world where so many people use God as a swear word, he is waiting for us to make him count, and say "that's my friend you're talking about." (PS. I spotted a dating error in the Post-date! I believe the one above is correct, not the previous two!) |
| Post-date 16 months (April 5th 2008) |
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One person at least has read the blog and commented on the date. Another pointed out a serious error in the first blog; I quote, "One fundamental reason why Star Wars is superior to Star Trek is that it acknowledges a need for a greater power, whereas Trek champions the idea of human progress as the answer." Some of you may guess who wrote that!
I won't rise to the bait of debate about the merits of my favourite Sci Fi, however I do believe that stories like Star Trek, Star Wars, and maybe even Dr Who, along with the epics of novels like Lord of the Rings, have a place in making us stretch our minds beyond what we can just see, to the bigger questions of ultimate importance. David Wilkinson (a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a fellow of Christian Apologetics at St. Johns College Durham) wrote, "X Files creator Chris Carter engages the imagination. He explores UFO folklore in a contemporary setting and he calls himself a person wanting to explore the realm beyond the rational." We have just celebrated Easter. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, a book in the Christian Bible, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." Of ultimate importance is this claim that Jesus died and rose again. Apparently many people in our society (different statistics give this between 40 and 70% of the adult population) actually believe this. But it is also apparent that very few of those who believe it see it as of first, or ultimate importance. If something really matters, then it is going to affect us at every level of our being, what we think, how we behave, our values and attitudes, our hopes and ambitions. The implication of the death and resurrection of Jesus is not simply as an interesting (religious) fact; it is that He, Jesus, is living with us today. There was a song I used to sing that began with the words, "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me... ." Do you agree with that? That is the ultimate reason for being a Christian, to walk with God and talk with God, and presumably pay great attention to what he says. Jesus called his disciples to follow him. They spent time then walking with him, enjoying his company, sharing laughter and tears, and listening to his words about God and life. They were companions of Jesus. All the great Sci Fi stories have companions. Not being a Star Wars fan I can't name the Star Wars companions, but I am sure they had some; like Frodo had Sam, and Dr Who now has Catherine Tate! Our challenge is to be Jesus' companion. How about it? |
| Post-date 15 months 20 days. (March 25th 2008) |
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Why Post-date? Sounds like Captain Kirk in Star trek (far superior to Star wars of course!) ..."this Captain James C Kirk Star Ship Enterprise, Star Date..."
Time is a strange thing. In Steven Hawkins book "A brief history of time" he offers his thoughts on the span of the universe's existence, the time scale from beginning to possible end. However his big question is not "how long?" but "why?" As he puts it in his book, "Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" We worry a great deal about time: how to fit everything we want to do in this week, for example, or how on earth we are ever going to finish the decorating we started last January. We make plans for the rest of the year, and plans for the rest of our lives, and then we get into a panic because we are late for a meeting today. But in many ways time is far less important than purpose. If we thought a little more about what we are doing, and why we are doing it, and less about the time it takes, we might be a little more content. The important things in life are not big plans and future prospects, they are relationships today, and the way in which we live today. The Christian Faith has a great deal to say about purpose, and far less to say about time. In fact when it comes to time the simple word is "my times are in your hands", where "your" is God! In other words we don't need to worry about time; every day is God's gift to us and He knows how many days he will give us. Jesus said we can't add to it by worrying about it. There is much more about purpose. Any maybe I'll say something about that another time, but there's that word again, time! When it comes to purpose, the Bible says the real purpose and point of life, if we understand it rightly, is to live for God every moment. It calls that an eternal purpose, a purpose that is good for today and tomorrow and everyday we have life, and then for ever beyond life as well. It doesn't depend on our circumstances, and it doesn't depend on our plans. To discover that purpose is to discover real contentment. Back to the post date... just read that as the date of this post... and why 15 months 20 days? I'll let you work that out. Phil |
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HBC Autumn Re-union
There will be an HBC Autumn Re-union on Saturday 18th October starting at 9.30 and finishing at 12.00. More...
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Together with the other church fellowships in Biggleswade. More...
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