Sitting in the library with someone today I was amazed when a librarian asked my friend to unplug her laptop, because it hasn't been PAT tested. The library has turned coffee shop, so has an area of tables, chairs, and sofas making it a place to sit, relax, dabble on a laptop or have an informal meeting (as we were in fact doing). As such you would think they would expect members of the public to want to plug in their laptop at the nearby wall-socket.
But no, that is obviously way too risky!
Now as an engineer I understand that technically there is a risk (albeit very small), which could put us or some other member of the public in jeopardy. But this kind of thing just epitomises to me the ridiculously risk-averse culture we now live in.
The problem is that this risk-averse behaviour has affected our faith and our churches too, with negative consequences for mission. Last week at Community Connect, a new group I am working with at Shinfield Baptist Church, we looked at Jn 1 and God moving into our neighbourhood. Two keywords we drew out were that such a venture involved great risk and vulnerability. Quite incompatible with today's attitude to risk, but necessary for the powerful mission of God to unfold.
As Christians are we prepared to accept a degree of risk, especially as God calls us out from the safety of our Christian gatherings? Or do we judge that it is better to un-plug ourselves from the power of God's mission?
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Monday, 27 September 2010
Introducing the Missional Church
This book by Roxburgh and Boren aims to help Christians understand the Missional Ecclesiology suggested by Roxburgh and several other authors in recent years, and how to start the process of transformation for their own church.
The first thing to know about this book is that the authors deliberately avoid defining 'Missional Church'. Whilst that may seem a tad frustrating at first, they do carefully explain why they do not define it, and in the process give the reader a better insight into their thinking.
A key aspect of this is developing what they call 'Missional Imagination', breaking out of our standard forms of thinking to allow the Spirit to lead us into new possibilities. This makes it a fruitful read that will challenge and stretch your thinking.
The book is open-ended, so do not expect to have all the answers wrapped up by the end. Its an informative read, but perhaps a very risky one if you think of starting to apply some of the principles to your own church ...
The first thing to know about this book is that the authors deliberately avoid defining 'Missional Church'. Whilst that may seem a tad frustrating at first, they do carefully explain why they do not define it, and in the process give the reader a better insight into their thinking.
A key aspect of this is developing what they call 'Missional Imagination', breaking out of our standard forms of thinking to allow the Spirit to lead us into new possibilities. This makes it a fruitful read that will challenge and stretch your thinking.
The book is open-ended, so do not expect to have all the answers wrapped up by the end. Its an informative read, but perhaps a very risky one if you think of starting to apply some of the principles to your own church ...
Friday, 24 September 2010
Prepare the Way
John the Baptist calls out and quotes Isaiah 40, 'prepare the way!'. I've always assumed that this is something we must do - clean up our act, get ready for God to come and so forth.
Certainly the beginning of the passage looks that way, but the more I think about it I wonder. You see it goes on to talk of valleys being raised and mountains made low and so on. Now I know with modern day engineering its kind of possible. Our roads & railways cut a relatively straight and level path through undulating terrain, but I don't think that is what Isaiah or John had in mind!
Perhaps we should realise that God is going to do this earth moving, major-change, levelling kind of stuff. Perhaps our role therefore is to get on board with it. The change doesn't depend on us, He has it in mind to do it anyway, but we have the responsibility to align ourselves with His purposes.
So 'prepare the way' becomes 'wise up and join in' ... for the glory of the Lord will be revealed, at some point one way or another everyone is going to see it.
Certainly the beginning of the passage looks that way, but the more I think about it I wonder. You see it goes on to talk of valleys being raised and mountains made low and so on. Now I know with modern day engineering its kind of possible. Our roads & railways cut a relatively straight and level path through undulating terrain, but I don't think that is what Isaiah or John had in mind!
Perhaps we should realise that God is going to do this earth moving, major-change, levelling kind of stuff. Perhaps our role therefore is to get on board with it. The change doesn't depend on us, He has it in mind to do it anyway, but we have the responsibility to align ourselves with His purposes.
So 'prepare the way' becomes 'wise up and join in' ... for the glory of the Lord will be revealed, at some point one way or another everyone is going to see it.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Devising a way
Tucked away in the story of Amnon, Tamar, Absalom and David is the extraordinary verse 2Sam14:14
This is such a golden nugget! Here we have a story of rape, disgrace, murder, and estrangement (all within the family, just like any modern day TV soap series!). Its messy all over, with side orders of mess and mess sauce on top. But within it is a fundamental truth about God: that God does not desire such everlasting strife, but will rather find some way to bring someone back.
Lost coin, lost sheep, lost son - its right here in the Old Testament. Two Samuel, chapter fourteen, verse fourteen.
Awesome.
He devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him
This is such a golden nugget! Here we have a story of rape, disgrace, murder, and estrangement (all within the family, just like any modern day TV soap series!). Its messy all over, with side orders of mess and mess sauce on top. But within it is a fundamental truth about God: that God does not desire such everlasting strife, but will rather find some way to bring someone back.
Lost coin, lost sheep, lost son - its right here in the Old Testament. Two Samuel, chapter fourteen, verse fourteen.
Awesome.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Every Knee Shall Bow
I sometimes wonder what the 'every knee shall bow' moment in Philippians 2:10 might look like.
Perhaps a clue lies in the extraordinary episode recorded in 1 Sam 19:20 - 24. Saul sends his men to capture David, but they end up prophesying rather than laying hands on David. This in fact happens three times, and then culminates with Saul going down and finding himself prophesying as well!
The story seems to reinforce the fact that God will have his way and that people, despite their plans, will have to knuckle down and get on board with them. The men get to declare God's words/wonders, presumably whether they like it or not.
As we follow God in His mission, there will be times when people are simply swept off their feet, as it were, and caught up in Gods words & wonders. I guess such moments are hints of the ultimate moment when all & everything is similarly swept up, much as Paul wrote about to the Philippians.
[Note an interesting aside here: we typically teach that people who prophesy remain in full control, and yet here it seems like it could be involuntary, especially when we get to Saul going naked in v24. However, this does seem to be very unusual circumstances rather than your average church meeting!].
Perhaps a clue lies in the extraordinary episode recorded in 1 Sam 19:20 - 24. Saul sends his men to capture David, but they end up prophesying rather than laying hands on David. This in fact happens three times, and then culminates with Saul going down and finding himself prophesying as well!
The story seems to reinforce the fact that God will have his way and that people, despite their plans, will have to knuckle down and get on board with them. The men get to declare God's words/wonders, presumably whether they like it or not.
As we follow God in His mission, there will be times when people are simply swept off their feet, as it were, and caught up in Gods words & wonders. I guess such moments are hints of the ultimate moment when all & everything is similarly swept up, much as Paul wrote about to the Philippians.
[Note an interesting aside here: we typically teach that people who prophesy remain in full control, and yet here it seems like it could be involuntary, especially when we get to Saul going naked in v24. However, this does seem to be very unusual circumstances rather than your average church meeting!].
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Supermarket Sabbath
Lev 25:1-7 describes the 'land Sabbath' every seven years, where working the land stops and reliance on God's provision is heightened. For us townie-types, it can be a bit difficult to relate to this kind of agricultural stuff.
In the West we typically consume way more than we need, with the regular supermarket shop being something of a cornerstone to this state of affairs. How much do pack our fridge, our freezer and our cupboards each week, pushing existing stuff to the back to be forgotten and probably eventually wasted?
So here's a whacky idea. How about every seven weeks deliberately not doing a supermarket shop, and instead try to live off what is already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards? I'll call it the 'Supermarket Sabbath' - for some it will be a challenge. Can we get through the week? Perhaps it will make us think more about our food provision and consumption. Maybe it will make us think more about God's provision.
So start counting the weeks, and in 6 weeks time declare a Supermarket Sabbath!
In the West we typically consume way more than we need, with the regular supermarket shop being something of a cornerstone to this state of affairs. How much do pack our fridge, our freezer and our cupboards each week, pushing existing stuff to the back to be forgotten and probably eventually wasted?
So here's a whacky idea. How about every seven weeks deliberately not doing a supermarket shop, and instead try to live off what is already in the fridge, freezer and cupboards? I'll call it the 'Supermarket Sabbath' - for some it will be a challenge. Can we get through the week? Perhaps it will make us think more about our food provision and consumption. Maybe it will make us think more about God's provision.
So start counting the weeks, and in 6 weeks time declare a Supermarket Sabbath!
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Beyond Hawking
So Stephen Hawking has plumped for the 'no God' explanation of creation. He has shifted his position, since previously he had room for the possibility of God.
Without understanding all the physics his argument can still be undermined, for example is the 'nothing' in the newspaper reports of his book really 'nothing', or was it an amount of energy or the collapse of a previous universe? And why the law of gravity in the first place? All these questions immediately make room for God because they imply a prior 'something'.
But Christians don't believe on the cosmological argument alone. They believe because of experience in their own lives of something beyond ourselves, beyond the mere physical ... and thus out of reach of physics altogether.
Science and religion do not have to be ever in conflict. We just have to recognize the merits and limits of each, and then go forward with the combination that seems to provide the best explanation. As Christian we seek to do just that, and we can encourage others to do so as well.
Without understanding all the physics his argument can still be undermined, for example is the 'nothing' in the newspaper reports of his book really 'nothing', or was it an amount of energy or the collapse of a previous universe? And why the law of gravity in the first place? All these questions immediately make room for God because they imply a prior 'something'.
But Christians don't believe on the cosmological argument alone. They believe because of experience in their own lives of something beyond ourselves, beyond the mere physical ... and thus out of reach of physics altogether.
Science and religion do not have to be ever in conflict. We just have to recognize the merits and limits of each, and then go forward with the combination that seems to provide the best explanation. As Christian we seek to do just that, and we can encourage others to do so as well.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Presence Junky
In Mission Purpose Over-ride II I noted how important the presence of God was. Moses of course got lots of it, seen in both the accounts in Exodus and Deuteronomy. In fact you could argue he was a bit of a junky, with the extraordinary request of Ex 33:18 where Moses asks to see God's glory proving the point.
Yet coming back to God for more of His presence should not be down-played or written off as eccentric. I know of some modern day missionaries who are seeing extraordinary works of God in their field who also talk of the need to keep going back to God and being in His presence. They seem un-ashamed to admit that they hunger and thirst for it.
In Ex 24 Moses and his leadership team have an experience of God. Then Moses goes further on up the mountain at God's bidding. Moses had to wait around up there a whole six days before he could enter the cloud.
It seems to me it was worth the climb, and worth waiting for. In fact even sticking around in the desert and only going with God's leading was much better than just ploughing on regardless. God's presence and its effects cannot be under-estimated. Perhaps we should all be Presence junkies?
Yet coming back to God for more of His presence should not be down-played or written off as eccentric. I know of some modern day missionaries who are seeing extraordinary works of God in their field who also talk of the need to keep going back to God and being in His presence. They seem un-ashamed to admit that they hunger and thirst for it.
In Ex 24 Moses and his leadership team have an experience of God. Then Moses goes further on up the mountain at God's bidding. Moses had to wait around up there a whole six days before he could enter the cloud.
It seems to me it was worth the climb, and worth waiting for. In fact even sticking around in the desert and only going with God's leading was much better than just ploughing on regardless. God's presence and its effects cannot be under-estimated. Perhaps we should all be Presence junkies?
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