How much can the first few chapters of Proverbs be considered to be about the Holy Spirit (i.e. equating 'wisdom' with the Spirit)? If they can, then should chapters 5 to 9 be read symbolically. In other words are they describing a life that seeks God and His Spirit against a life that goes off with foreign gods?
The warnings against adultery would then align with the illustrations used in the prophets, where Israel's attention to foreign gods is described as blatant adultery. That therefore makes sense. What is more interesting is then is the latter part of chapter 5 which uses quite sexually explicit language. Can this be (symbolically) referring to a life lived with God, the wife of Israel's youth?
If so then our life with and seeking after God can be described legitimately as a beautiful love affair; one that leads to blessing, to truth and right ways of living.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Religio-tainment?
Before Christmas we decided to go to a carol service at a Cathedral not so far away. It was packed out. The choir was in good form, leading us in the familiar congregational carols as well as singing other special pieces for us. It was somewhat high brow for me, to be honest not really my thing, but I have to say done very well done all round.
Last summer we went to a regular Hillsong service in London which was also well attended. The music style was obviously different (and more to my taste), a very inefficient sermon (words to real content ratio) but with all the flashing lights and other razzmattaz I would say it was also very well done.
Yet during the Cathedral service I realised something that I believe connects the two. In their own respective ways is there not a big danger that they are both 'religio-tainment' - entertaining the crowds with the best that their styles can offer?
For one the style dates from two or three centuries back, the other represents the contemporary worship set full on. I'm sure back in its day the Cathedral style was the bees knees of worship for people who could get there to attend, currently Hillsong fits that bill for us.
The New Testament doesn't give us that much to go on in terms of format for a worship service, but 1 Corinthians 14 does suggest most or all bringing something they can contribute. That might sound like a recipe for chaos - well yes, hence the need for Paul to write that chapter to find some order! The point for me is that there was clearly interaction across and between members of the body. It clearly wasn't simply religio-tainment professionally led from the front.
Last summer we went to a regular Hillsong service in London which was also well attended. The music style was obviously different (and more to my taste), a very inefficient sermon (words to real content ratio) but with all the flashing lights and other razzmattaz I would say it was also very well done.
Yet during the Cathedral service I realised something that I believe connects the two. In their own respective ways is there not a big danger that they are both 'religio-tainment' - entertaining the crowds with the best that their styles can offer?
For one the style dates from two or three centuries back, the other represents the contemporary worship set full on. I'm sure back in its day the Cathedral style was the bees knees of worship for people who could get there to attend, currently Hillsong fits that bill for us.
The New Testament doesn't give us that much to go on in terms of format for a worship service, but 1 Corinthians 14 does suggest most or all bringing something they can contribute. That might sound like a recipe for chaos - well yes, hence the need for Paul to write that chapter to find some order! The point for me is that there was clearly interaction across and between members of the body. It clearly wasn't simply religio-tainment professionally led from the front.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Getting real with God: men, women and children
The Israelites had high points and low points. There were also times when as a collective people they found themselves before God and up for critical self-evaluation. These were profound moments in their corporate life.
The last couple of chapters of Ezra is one of these occasions. Realising that God sees everything, their pretence of previous years is now stripped away and reality hits home. God had given them a high calling as a people which quite simply they had not lived up to. They could hide no longer - they now understood for themselves how much they were found to be lacking.
They could run away, try and explain it away, try and excuse their way out of it, or simply face up to it. In chapter 10 verse 1 they do the latter, gathering round Ezra and letting their emotions floood out. Not very British, but this wasn't a time to be British, it was a time to get real with God.
An extraordinary aspect of this episode is that they all took part: men, women and children. An all age gathering on a serious scale at a critical point in their life. The children were not hived off to 'age appropriate activities', but were part of the collective interaction between God and His people.
What kind of year will 2012 be for you? One where you try and just carry on, one where you continue to be on the run. A year of fresh explanations, or one where you find excuses. Or will it be a year where you come before God, good and bad, and let it all come out - to be real as you can possibly be with the One who grants you your existence.
Whoever you are, however you have succeeded or failed in the past, stop hiding, remove the veneer. Make it your aim to join others in getting real with God: men, women AND children.
The last couple of chapters of Ezra is one of these occasions. Realising that God sees everything, their pretence of previous years is now stripped away and reality hits home. God had given them a high calling as a people which quite simply they had not lived up to. They could hide no longer - they now understood for themselves how much they were found to be lacking.
They could run away, try and explain it away, try and excuse their way out of it, or simply face up to it. In chapter 10 verse 1 they do the latter, gathering round Ezra and letting their emotions floood out. Not very British, but this wasn't a time to be British, it was a time to get real with God.
An extraordinary aspect of this episode is that they all took part: men, women and children. An all age gathering on a serious scale at a critical point in their life. The children were not hived off to 'age appropriate activities', but were part of the collective interaction between God and His people.
What kind of year will 2012 be for you? One where you try and just carry on, one where you continue to be on the run. A year of fresh explanations, or one where you find excuses. Or will it be a year where you come before God, good and bad, and let it all come out - to be real as you can possibly be with the One who grants you your existence.
Whoever you are, however you have succeeded or failed in the past, stop hiding, remove the veneer. Make it your aim to join others in getting real with God: men, women AND children.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
The making of a King
This year has seen the toppling (or passing away) of several national rulers. In a number of cases the ruler lived in opulence whilst the common people generally struggled to make a living.
Scripture is full of injunctions against this kind of thing, with a number of them in the book of Jeremiah. Chapter 22 verse 13 is clear enough: "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice ...". But I think v15 says it most profoundly:
On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of a true King. Not a cedar panel in sight, nor any gold plated taps or grand marble halls. In fact no proper lodging at all, effectively ranked along with the animals just below 'peasant status' in the world's eyes. Yet it is a true King indeed, one whose reign will be characterised by righteousness and justice.
Scripture is full of injunctions against this kind of thing, with a number of them in the book of Jeremiah. Chapter 22 verse 13 is clear enough: "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice ...". But I think v15 says it most profoundly:
Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?
On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of a true King. Not a cedar panel in sight, nor any gold plated taps or grand marble halls. In fact no proper lodging at all, effectively ranked along with the animals just below 'peasant status' in the world's eyes. Yet it is a true King indeed, one whose reign will be characterised by righteousness and justice.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Life doesn't seem fair
So the North Korean leader has passed away. Time will tell what line his son takes. Maybe at last things might improve for the citizens of this impoverished nation?
I often wonder why certain leaders seem to be allowed to survive for so long. Mugabe is now a very old man, and yet he still maintains a tight grip on power with prolonged negative consequences for the people. Why does God allow this?
Jeremiah effectively asks a similar question in chapter 12 - 'why does the way of the wicked prosper?' (v1). People go on doing wrong, and even believe God can't see them (v4). Its not right.
God seems elusive in His answer, but v5 tells Jeremiah that he has to be prepared to tough it out over the long haul and in the face of even bigger problems. In Jeremiah's day God was acting, but in ways that operated at levels hard for Jeremiah to comprehend (which v6 forwards allude to).
Life doesn't seem fair here on the ground, but God is on the move at 'macro-levels' beyond our understanding. The writings of Jeremiah is one example of this - it should inspire us believe that it is also true today as we watch world politics take its twists and turns.
I often wonder why certain leaders seem to be allowed to survive for so long. Mugabe is now a very old man, and yet he still maintains a tight grip on power with prolonged negative consequences for the people. Why does God allow this?
Jeremiah effectively asks a similar question in chapter 12 - 'why does the way of the wicked prosper?' (v1). People go on doing wrong, and even believe God can't see them (v4). Its not right.
God seems elusive in His answer, but v5 tells Jeremiah that he has to be prepared to tough it out over the long haul and in the face of even bigger problems. In Jeremiah's day God was acting, but in ways that operated at levels hard for Jeremiah to comprehend (which v6 forwards allude to).
Life doesn't seem fair here on the ground, but God is on the move at 'macro-levels' beyond our understanding. The writings of Jeremiah is one example of this - it should inspire us believe that it is also true today as we watch world politics take its twists and turns.
Monday, 12 December 2011
We become what we worship
I've often read Isaiah 6:9,10 '... they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears ...' and the gospel references to it (e.g. Mark 4) and thought "that's not fair! If they could see or hear, they might turn and be forgiven. Why not let them see or hear?".
Yet I have been missing a key principle. Psalm 135:15-18 talks of the people worshipping idols - idols cast from silver or gold. Motionless statutes. They may be well fashioned, carefully crafted eyes and clearly recognisable ears. But of course the object cannot hear, nor see - it is merely a human-made object. Why on earth would anyone worship a mere thing ... but that is exactly what the people do.
V18 then says 'those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them'. And there is the rub - the simple fact is we become what we worship. If we worship blind & deaf statutes, we become blind & deaf ourselves. If we worship money, our lives will reflect this. If we worship stuck-in-the-mud tradition, then we will surely become stuck in the mud too.
Be careful what you make your god - you may end up being just like it. Unrecognisable compared with the true and living God, and unable to recognise the true and living God.
Yet I have been missing a key principle. Psalm 135:15-18 talks of the people worshipping idols - idols cast from silver or gold. Motionless statutes. They may be well fashioned, carefully crafted eyes and clearly recognisable ears. But of course the object cannot hear, nor see - it is merely a human-made object. Why on earth would anyone worship a mere thing ... but that is exactly what the people do.
V18 then says 'those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them'. And there is the rub - the simple fact is we become what we worship. If we worship blind & deaf statutes, we become blind & deaf ourselves. If we worship money, our lives will reflect this. If we worship stuck-in-the-mud tradition, then we will surely become stuck in the mud too.
Be careful what you make your god - you may end up being just like it. Unrecognisable compared with the true and living God, and unable to recognise the true and living God.
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Turn that light on
Bible passages un-ashamedly use the theme of light and darkness in various places. One of the classic Christmas readings, John 1, talks of Jesus bringing life which is the 'light of all people', and a 'true light that gives light to everything'. Many cultures, and indeed other religions, similarly use the concept of light.
For Christians the whole light business continues beyond its focal point of Jesus. For example in Ephesians 5 the believers are told they are 'light in the world'. In other words they are not just to look to the light, but to be light themselves. Their life, their actions, are tightly linked to the real deal, Jesus himself.
Now in this regard most of us may feel no better than a second rate low energy light bulb, but this Ephesians passage tells us that God's plan for continuing to illuminate the world involves us as light bearers. Check out v13: 'everything that is illuminated becomes a light'.
How we live is vitally important (hence v9-11 and v15f) since how we live equates to our 'luminance', so to speak. The great words of John 1 continue to be a reality in the contemporary world through current day believers ability to shine.
So Christians - turn that light on!
For Christians the whole light business continues beyond its focal point of Jesus. For example in Ephesians 5 the believers are told they are 'light in the world'. In other words they are not just to look to the light, but to be light themselves. Their life, their actions, are tightly linked to the real deal, Jesus himself.
Now in this regard most of us may feel no better than a second rate low energy light bulb, but this Ephesians passage tells us that God's plan for continuing to illuminate the world involves us as light bearers. Check out v13: 'everything that is illuminated becomes a light'.
How we live is vitally important (hence v9-11 and v15f) since how we live equates to our 'luminance', so to speak. The great words of John 1 continue to be a reality in the contemporary world through current day believers ability to shine.
So Christians - turn that light on!
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