A while back I blogged about the powers. My thinking received some affirmation this week in a conference I attended looking at the relationship between geography, society and what is going on spiritually in an area. Among questions considered was the relationship (if any) between how an area is laid out and how people's lives play out, all the while trying to think in spiritual terms rather than pure human cause/effect.
A great aspect of the conference was that it was held in an interesting multi-cultural urban area, with all kinds of 'stuff' going on around it, rather than some detached nice conference venue somewhere. This made our discussions feel all the more acute.
Planning decisions, how people are housed, provision of amenities all factor into the equation. Yet we must not look in pure human terms, but seek God for insight into the 'behind the scenes' goings on. There is a curious interaction between human interactions and our decisions and the spiritual realm in all aspects of life.
It is not all gloom and doom, nor need we think there is a demon lurking within every building. We have Good News to share, and hope in God who redeems. Structural problems need not remain bad forever - confronted by the power of God even the most difficult of situations can experience grace and renewal.
We are not left without alternatives - Christ is risen!
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very interesting point. It reminds me of a practical example of a pastor friend of mine who is leading a church in Gela, Sicily, known as the home of the Mafia. 50% of his church members are unemployed yet there is hope in the gospel and people are being saved from a life of organised crime. In addition, the town has the highest concentration of evangelical christians to total population in Europe. God is at work.
ReplyDelete(Janet Duggan)