Dead Flies and Perfume

Lest I seem to be evangelical bashing

2012-01-24T14:36:00.000+11:00

Lest I seem to be evangelical bashing, here is a great post on some of the history of women in evangelicalism

No leading the singing for women

2012-01-22T15:05:00.001+11:00

Continuing on the American complementarian thread,
women really shouldn't be leading the service or the singing either, if we follow the lead of Bob Kauflin at Sovereign Grace.

So , where are we up to. No preaching, no reading the scriptures, no praying, no singing, no leading. Lets be really clear who we are getting involved with if we want to go down this complementarian line.

Lets be quite clear that they teach Christians that what we do is sub or even anti biblical (if we do indeed allow women participation in these things).

No praying from the front for women

2012-01-20T14:56:00.000+11:00

Let's get this straight, you raving feminist Sydney Anglicans, who misunderstand the way God has made men and women.

Women shouldn't be praying up the front in church services either,
says John Piper and plenty of other complementarians

No Bible reading for women either

2012-01-18T14:33:00.000+11:00

I would hate for a slippery slope argument to be invoked in the discussion about women in ministry, but.. this is where it leads to folks!

Tim Challies tries to defend only men reading scripture publicly

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/challies/men-women-the-public-reading-of-scripture.html

Lucky evangelical liturgies and prayers are such trite nonsense (ie lacking in teaching content), otherwise women would be excluded from those activities too.
What rubbish.

Listening to the voice of women in the church

2012-01-16T14:20:00.000+11:00

Take a look at your christian books.
How many are by women?
What ratio women to men?

Mine is about 1:50

Please list your best theological book written by a fmale

Principles for preaching- Spend some time with yourself

2012-01-13T14:08:00.003+11:00

When we are preaching we are speaking to humans ( I hope!).
In theory then, this should be incredibly easy. I am also a human, we should be able to relate!
Surely in ourselves we have a great resource for understanding each other.
But unfortunately, most of us don't spend time simply with 'ourselves'.
Sure, we spend time alone. With the TV. With some passtime. With a bible.
But I don't think this counts as spending time with ourselves.
Now, I'm not recommending some complicated program of 'finding ourselves', or deep meditation to find something profound.
In fact, the profoundest thing I have found by spending time with myself is that I'm not very profound. Not that I spend that much time with myself now.

When I was a child and teenager however, I had a special rock that I would go to, simply to sit.
It overlooked a vast valley. I played with the smaller rocks on top. I got bored. I got past being bored. I let my mind wander. I learn't all sorts of things at that rock. I learnt that I should thank people who have helped me. I learnt about a friends horrific story. I learnt to sit. I noticed that I am here, now. I thought about stuff. Nothing too profound*. But at least it gave me some time to have an interior reality. Not everything is conversing with others. I exist when I am not being entertained. Apparently teenagers and young uns' these days are lacking an interior life. Go and sit on a rock. You get to notice yourself a bit
Which should help you relate to other 'selfs'. Perhaps even show them their own 'selfs' more than they have ever seen them before. There is a lot of talk that preachers should go and spend time with people if we want to connect. And there is some truth in that. But perhaps there is een more benefit from spending some time with yourself
Preachers, go sit on a rock.

* though also some profound things. On a moonless night, the few lights from the farmhouses in the valley blended with the stars, so that the horizon seemed to drop 100 metres ahead, and gave the feeling you were floating through space on a small ball. Which you are really. Also, after a few years sitting on the rock, I lay down in just the right place and saw that the edge of the rock aligned almost perfectly with the contours of the mountains in the distance. Freaky.

I Ain't dead

2012-01-09T14:33:00.002+11:00

So this last year I have taken up mat-surfing. Heading out to the beach on an inflateable pillow.
Probably the best time was in tiny surf when a few dolphins turned up and joined in the wave fun, and the worst when I went out in big surf and got the crap kicked out of me.

Last week I went surfing, there were a lot of fish in the water. Which made me a little, ahem, nervous.

I got home and turned on the news, they are going through the headlines

"Beachgoers swim unaware next to sharks in feeding frenzy"
I scream and recoil from the television.
"Surfer bitten by a shark"
arghhh
Then the story comes on
"Surfer Mike Wells was lucky to survive today after being mauled by a 6 foot bronze whaler"
I ran from the lounge room squealing.

All of which is to say,
I aint dead

FIVE sharks were seen off central coast beaches yesterday less than 12 hours after a surfer was bitten by what was thought to be a bronze whaler at North Avoca.

Mike Wells, a local semi-professional surfer and surf shop worker, received stitches and had surgery to prevent infection to about 50 puncture wounds on his right arm.

The 28-year-old was attacked at dusk on Tuesday in the water not far from the beachfront house he rents with his girlfriend, Samantha Symonds.

She said he was doing well and was expected to be discharged from Gosford Hospital last night.

On a surfing blog a friend, Grant Molony, said he was ''cracking jokes [and was] a lucky man with a story to tell for years to come''.

Mr Wells used his left hand to fight off the shark, which was about the size of his surfboard.

A neighbour, called Max, said beach walkers helped when he came ashore bleeding. His surfboard strap was used as a tourniquet and a towel covered gashes.

''He was as white as anything but still lucid. I think shock was setting in,'' he said.

Yesterday a Westpac life saver rescue helicopter spotted five sharks up to four metres long at Copacabana Beach and Avoca Beach, which was closed for an hour. Large numbers of baitfish are thought to be attracting them.

One surfer at North Avoca, Lachlan Taylor, 19, went into the water about 8am yesterday and saw masses of fish. ''Then I saw a huge shadow so I just absolutely bolted,'' he said.

Reasons why Bible readers/teachers should read David Foster Wallace's 'Infinite Jest'

2012-01-08T07:03:00.000+11:00

in no particular order

1. It is a fantastic book

2. It is rampant with intertextuality.

3. It contains complex thoughts on addiction and desire

4. Rumoured to have a chiastic structure

5. It moves beyond post-modernism, a response more to the technological reality of post-humanism

6. Like the Bible, on a first read, it seems to be full of irrelevant detail. But on subsequent readings you realise every detail is important, every detail a window to the whole.

7. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
One of the characters has an influence over the speech of others, in a strange and not quite clear way. They don't lose their agency, but someone else is in there too.

Feel free to add some more

When the day starts, pray

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000+11:00

When you are made Ready to begin the Day, Pray:

O God and merciful Father, thou knows and hast taught us somewhat to know, that the weakness of man is much, and that without thy grace and virtue he cannot do or think any good thing; have mercy upon me, I humbly beseech thee, who am thy most unworthy and most weak child. Oh! be gracious and tender towards me, enlighten me, that I may with pleasure look only upon good things; exhort me, that I may covet them; carefully lead me, that I may follow, and at length attain them. I, distrusting myself altogether, commend and offer myself wholly, soul, body, life, &c., into thy hands. Thy loving Spirit lead me forth unto the land of righteousness

Thoughts on hospital visits

2012-01-06T10:41:00.002+11:00

Earlier this year I had to do a hospital visit. My first one. I had no idea what to do, or how to be.

Jason offers some excellent thoughts on visiting those in hospital. Well worth a read

As soon as it is light, pray

2012-01-03T05:36:00.000+11:00

So soon as you behold the Daylight, Pray:

O Lord, thou greatest and most true Light, whence this light of the day and of the sun does spring! O Light, which does lighten every man that comes into this world! O Light, which knows no night nor evening, but are always a midday, most clear and fair, without whom all is most dark darknessóby whom all are most resplendent! O thou Wisdom of the eternal Father of mercies! enlighten my mind, that I may only see those things that please thee and may be blinded to all other things. Grant that I may walk in thy ways, and that nothing else may be light and pleasant unto me. Lighten mine eyes, O Lord! that I sleep not in death, lest mine enemies say, "I have prevailed against him."

Occasions to meditate

Muse a little how much the light and eye of the mind and soul are better than those of the body; also that we care more for the soul's seeing well, than for the body. Think that beasts have bodily eyes, and therewith see, but men have eyes of the mind, and therewith should see.

The freedom of confession

2012-01-02T22:01:00.000+11:00

"The 'burden' of self accusation, the suspicion of what the heart prompts, this is not about an inhuman austerity or self hatred but about the need for us all to be coaxed into honesty by the confidence that God can forgive and heal"
Rowan Williams
Silence and Honey Cakes pp49

Diversity and commitment

2012-01-01T21:47:00.000+11:00

"The church is meant primarily to be a community of persons in the sense we have been talking about. It is a place for distinctive vocations to be discovered in such a way that they are a source of mutual enrichment and delight, not threat. It is a place where human difference is nourished. I don't just mean the obvious fact that the church has to be a place of welcome for all races and cultures, but that it must know how to work with the grain of different personal gifts and histories. A healthy church is one where there is evident diversity in this respect, with plenty of bizarre characters... An unhealthy one is a group in which the unity of the church has been reduced to a homogeneity of options and habits, so that certain styles of devotion, for example, or certain expressions of what God means to this or that person are frowned on, virtue becomes identified with uncontroversial ordinariness and there is a nervous cultural 'sameness' in the way people talk, dress and so on..... this is more than 'letting a thousand flowers bloom'. A church that is simply recognising different preferences is stuck at the level of individualism; the real work has not yet been done, the work which is the discovery of God's call beyond the simplistic 'listening to the heart' that we all too readily settle for. This is a work that takes protracted, committed time, which is why the church is so much involved in blessing lifelong commitments- marriage, ordination, monastic life- not as a way of saying that everyone has to be involved in one or more of these but to remind all baptized believers that, because of their baptism, they are bound to the patient, long term discovery of what grace will do with them"
Rowan Williams
Silence and Honey Cakes:the wisdom of the desert pp59

Pray the day with John Bradford

2012-01-01T05:30:00.000+11:00

When you Awake out of your Sleep, Pray thus:

O most dear Father of our Saviour Jesus Christ, whom none does know but by thy gift, grant that to the manifold great benefits of thy goodness given to me, this which of all other is the greatest, may be added; that like as thou hast awakened my body from sleep, so thou would thoroughly awake, yea, deliver my soul from the sleep of sin and the darkness of this world, and that which now is awakened out of sleep, be pleased, after death, to restore to life, for that is but sleep to thee, which is death to us. O God, I most heartily beseech and humbly pray thy goodness to make my body such a companion, or rather such a minister of godliness to my soul, in this present life, that in the life to come it may partake therewith everlasting happiness by Jesus Christ our Lord. Awake, thou that sleeps, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall show light unto thee. (Eph. v.)

Occasions to meditate

Here call to mind the great joy and blessedness of the everlasting resurrection; also remember to muse upon that most clear light and bright morning, and clearness of our bodies, after the long darkness they will hare been in: all then shad be full of joy.

Bill Maher on "Secret millionaire"

2011-12-30T10:53:00.000+11:00

America’s rich aren’t giving you money, they’re taking your money. Between the years 1980 and 2005 80% of all new income generated in this country went to the richest 1%. Let me put that in terms that even you fat-ass teabaggers, I’m sorry, can understand.

"Say 100 Americans get together and order a 100 slice pizza. The pizza arrives and the first guy takes 80 slices. And if someone suggests, why don’t you just take 79 slices, that’s socialism! I know, I know. I know, I know, it’s just a TV show. But it does reinforce the stupid idea people have that rich people would love us and share with us if only they got to walk a mile in our cheap plastic shoes.

But they’re the reason the shoe factory moved to China. We have this fantasy that our interests and the interests of the super rich are the same. Like somehow the rich will eventually get so full that they’ll explode. And the candy will rain down on the rest of us.

Like there’s some kind of pinata of benevolence. But here’s the thing about a pinata. It doesn’t open on its own. You have to beat it with a stick."
Bill Maher

Principles for preaching- words don't (primarily) mean things

2011-12-29T22:55:00.001+11:00

Words don't (primarily) mean things.
They do things.
Even when they mean things they are doing things, whether it is making (notice the 'ing') sense of experience or performing some interpersonal role.

When you prepare to preach, the most important question is not "What am I trying to mean?", but "What am trying to do ?". If you get the second question clear, the first question will fall into place.

When I write the words above, I'm not (primarily) trying to put together ideas. No, I'm trying to remind myself of the purpose involved in any speaking, and I'm letting you in on this reminder.

Now, I've been reading Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. I'm not through it yet, but I think he is perhaps a bit harsh on Augustine. (somehow missing Augustines focus on desire???)
Anyway, he was big on the idea of the function of words. Words 'mean' only within certain language games. He maybe goes to far and cuts off any connection with the outside world (it is all game), but it is interesting none the less.
Can any of you smart people let me know how linguists feel about the philosophical 'turn to linguistics'? In some ways the functional approach of Wittgenstein seems similar to the Systemic Functional Linguistics of MAK Halliday (only Wittgenstein is heaps easier to read!)

Television, death and loneliness

2011-12-28T08:22:00.000+11:00

"One thing tv does is help us deny that we’re lonely. With televised images, we can have the facsimile of a relationship without the work of a real relationship. It’s an anesthesia of “form.” The interesting thing is why we’re so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness. You don’t have to think very hard to realize that our dread of both relationships and loneliness, both of which are like sub-dreads of our dread of being trapped inside a self (a psychic self, not just a physical self), has to do with angst about death, the recognition that I’m going to die, and die very much alone, and the rest of the world is going to go merrily on without me. I’m not sure I could give you a steeple-fingered theoretical justification, but I strongly suspect a big part of real art fiction’s job is to aggravate this sense of entrapment and loneliness and death in people, to move people to countenance it, since any possible human redemption requires us first to face what’s dreadful, what we want to deny."
David Foster Wallace

How do you think we can give people the freedom to be themselves in our churches? Not in a 'be yourself', sweet, overly positive way, but a courageous, 'coming face to face with oneself' way.

Wallace's own fiction is an attempt to break with the passivity of television. You have to work your brain to 'get it' (though there is a great payoff in the end). How much of the message we give in church affirms passivity? In our desire to 'get the message across', how much are we encouraging passive receptivity? How could we say,in our preaching, approach Wallace's definition of real art fiction? How can we create an expectation that listening to a sermon will be joyful work? That it will not all be apparent at the surface, but will linger with an aftertaste? A sermon that haunts the world of the listener, turning up at surprising moments. Wouldn't that formally fit the work of the Spirit better?

Given Wallace's analysis about the fear of death, do you think our preaching of the resurrection helps, or functions in a similar way to television? How could we do it differently, since resurrection should also include the idea that you will die?

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

2011-12-25T12:34:00.000+11:00

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Come and make safe

2011-12-24T12:33:00.000+11:00

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Christ is Born

2011-12-23T09:37:00.000+11:00

A Child is born in Bethlehem

2011-12-21T13:59:00.000+11:00

1. A Babe is born in Bethlehem,
Bethlehem,
Therefore rejoice, Jerusalem.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

2. Within a manger He doth lie,
He doth lie,
Whose throne is set above the sky.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

3. Stillness was all the manger round;
Manger round,
The creatures its Creator found.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

4. The wise men came, led by the star,
By the star,
Gold, myrrh, and incense brought from far.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

5. His mother is the Virgin mild,
Virgin mild,
And He is the Father’s only child.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

6. The serpent’s wound He beareth not,
Beareth not,
Yet takes our blood, and shares our lot.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

7. Out human flock He enters in,
Enters in,
But bears no single taint of sin.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

8. To fallen man Himself He bowed,
He bowed,
That he might life us up to God.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

9. On this most blessed Jubilee,
Jubilee,
Al glory be, O God, to Thee.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

10. O Holy Three, we Thee adore,
Thee Adore,
This day, henceforth, for ever more.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

God is no tourist

2011-12-20T15:16:00.000+11:00

To a world living in darkness, the light has come,

To a thirsty world, God has sent Jesus, the living water

To a hungry world God has sent the bread of life, the one who gives life in abundance, full life, the shoots of eternal life in a world parched by death.

To a world that seems beyond repair, to people that seem to be failures, to be a disease on the earth, to be a failed project on God’s part, God has joined himself forever.

He who created all things enters the creation
The Sovereign Lord over all becomes a servant
He who shares the divine name is named with us
The judge the earth shares our judgement
The one worthy of our worship is born as a baby

God didn’t stand far off, throwing commands and condemnations. God didn’t come half way, visiting only the good , or the strong, or those who have it all together. He didn’t come to humankind as a tourist, fawning over the good bits and gawking at the poverty only to return home with some happy snaps. No, in Jesus God came all the way to us. He became one of us. He entered our world of flesh and weakness and death. He entered our world of sin and temptation. He entered our world of joys and sorrows.
God become one of us,
for us

Where we failed to be truly human, he succeeded
Where we backed away, he prayed to his Father
Where we turned to selfishness from fear, he turned to selflessness from love.

Where we deserved condemnation, God hung upon the tree
Where his body ascended into heaven, we will also be.
and already are
Humanity lifted up forever in him.

God is With Us

2011-12-19T12:47:00.000+11:00

God is with us!
Understand this, O nations, and submit yourselves for God is with us.

Hear this, even to the farthest bounds of the earth, for God is with us. Submit yourselves, O mighty ones, for God is with us. If you rise up again in your might, you will be overthrown, for God is with us. The Lord shall destroy all who take counsel together, and the word which you speak shall not abide with you, for God is with us. For we do not fear your terror, and we are not troubled, for God is with us. But we will ascribe holiness to the Lord our God, and Him will we hold in awesome fear, for God is with us. And if I put my trust in Him, He shall be my sanctification, for God is with us. I will set my hope on Him, and through Him I shall be saved -lo, I and the children whom God has given me, for God is with us. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness - on them a light has shined, for God is with us. For unto us a Child is born; to us a Son is given, for God is with us. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and of His peace there will be no end, for God is with us. And His name shall be called the Messenger of Great Counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the World to Come, for God is with us.

O come and cheer

2011-12-17T12:32:00.000+11:00

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Taking leave of humility- actually I was right all along

2011-12-16T14:21:00.001+11:00

One of the running gags between staff members at our church is the idea of taking 'humility leave'.

After the teary and very sincere leave taking of Piper and Mahaney, we think we should be up for a break too!

So I was (not that) surprised to see that what CJ Mahaney learned from his leave is that he was right all along.
At the SGM pastors conference he said sorry for saying sorry because he really wasn't sorry at all.

“Finally, in relation to my confession, I wish I had defended myself. I think I briefly, at the outset, possibly at the conclusion, referenced my disagreements with Brent’s narratives and accusations. But I wrongly concluded that it wouldn’t be humble of me to defend myself. I am now convinced that this really reveals an ignorance of, a misunderstanding, a wrong application of humility. I had no category for an appropriate defense against criticisms and accusations, especially public ones. I think not having a category didn’t serve me.”

Ah humility. I was right, but I just didn't know how to be humble correctly.
Better take some more leave.
Poor sucker Brent, whoever he is. He has just been expertly flanked.
No reference to the material content of the case. Just a confession then a backflip.

2011-12-16T13:16:00.000+11:00

Today is born of the Virgin Him Who holds all creation in the hollow of His hand.
He Whose essence is untouchable is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a babe.
The God Who from of old established the heavens lies in a manger.
He Who showered the people with manna in the wilderness feeds on milk from the breasts.
And the bridegroom of the Church calls the Magi, and the Son of the Virgin accepts gifts from them.
We worship your Nativity, O Christ.
Show us also your divine Theophany!

Taize Christmas

2011-12-14T12:14:00.001+11:00

O Christ, Son of God, you were before the world began, and you came to earth to save us all: make us witnesses of this Good News.
—Lord, we bless your Name!

You became a little child and were laid in a manger: renew in us the simplicity of childhood.
—Lord, we bless your Name!

King of glory, you accepted such an inconceivable humbling: give us hearts which are poor.
—Lord, we bless your Name!

You became our living bread and gave us eternal life: gladden our hearts by your Eucharist.
—Lord, we bless your Name!

from Taize

In the town of Bethlehem Christ becomes an infant

2011-12-13T09:32:00.000+11:00

In the town of Bethlehem Christ becomes an infant as One
Compassionate renewing our nature. We who were born on earth
come let us gladly sing in our hearts a tuneful song to the Master
For He is forever gloriously glorified.

When he had heard Thy report, O Christ the Prophet
(St. Simeon the God-Reciever) was frightened
in that Thou art from a Virgin to be born and he cried out
with trembling Glory to Thy Power, O Lord.

O Renewer of all the world and its Saviour, the whole creation with the
angels extols Thee, it leaps and dances and rejoices with trembling
and it says "Together with me , to the ages all ye works with longing

bless and also highly now exalt hte venerable birthday of my Redeemer."

Mary wholly pure, O rejoice who recieved God ,spotless Maid rejoice foundation of the fallen. O marvel! For today in thee did the Master
appear and thus renew those corrupted and bring up to the light
that has no evening, O Damsel.

Advertisers have stolen

2011-12-12T07:23:00.000+11:00

I'm starting to think that advertisments have stolen our culture in order to use it to sell stuff, so I'm putting together a list of things that ads have stolen.
If an advertisment is saying something true about a product, then it doesn't make it to the list. If the element in the ad has nothing to do with the product, it is an element of culture that is stolen

1. Personal witness and testimony. Obviously lost in early advertising
2. Colour- eg recent Telstra ad- lots of nice bright colours, nothing to do with product
3. Expressions of joy. Bombarded with the promise of individual and communal joy from products, which ultimately go unfullfilled, ads have stolen our ability to express joy
4. Sex- don't need to explain this one
5. Copious amounts of music. You know, I don't know many pieces of music that were written as responses to a commercial object or service. Most of them seem to be written as responses to other real things in life. Yet advertisments have stolen them, hollowed them of their original reference and instead used them to refer to a product. They thus steal our ability to use that music as a referent of and refelection on human experience.
6. Irony- the much loved response of baby-boomers to corporate pressure has itself been subsumed into the advertising scheme (Think esp Carltons 'Big Ad'). Ahaha we think, they are taking the piss out of themselves, I must go and buy that product.

This list will grow as I can be bothered

Karl Christmas prayer 2

2011-12-11T12:23:00.000+11:00

Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternit, but also to be born as a person, to live, and to die.
In your dear Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, you have given us none other than yourself, that we may wholly belong to you. This affects all of us, none of us has deserved this. What remains for us to do but wonder, to rejoice, to be thankful, and to hold fast to what you have done for us?
We ask you to let this be the case in this hour, among us and in all of us!Let us become a proper Christmas community in honest, open, and willing praying and singing, speaking and hearing, and let us in great hunger be a proper Communion community! Amen

Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers

O Come and free

2011-12-10T12:31:00.000+11:00

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

We who were in darkness and shadow have found the truth

2011-12-08T13:11:00.001+11:00

"Our Savior the dayspring of the East has visited us from on high; and we who were in darkness and shadow have found the truth, for the Lord is born of a Virgin."

The Exapostilarion of the Nativity of Christ

Jonathans favourite song

2011-12-07T17:38:00.000+11:00

Always gets smiles and dancing

Taize Christmas

2011-12-07T12:12:00.000+11:00

Jesus, Son of the living God, splendor of the Father, eternal light.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, King of glory, Sun of justice, son of the Virgin Mary.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Lord, Prince of Peace.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, our help and our refuge.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, God of peace, friend of all, source of life and of holiness.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, brother of the poor, goodness without measure, inexhaustible wisdom.
—Lord, we praise you!

Jesus, good shepherd, true light, our way and our life.
—Lord, we praise you!

Karl Barth Christmas prayer

2011-12-04T12:16:00.000+11:00

Dear heavenly Father, because we are here with one another in order to rejoice over the fact that your dear Son for us became a human and our brother, we earnestly beg of you to tell us your self what great grace, well being, and help you have prepared for all of us in him.
Open our ears and our understanding, in order that we may grasp that in him there is forgiveness for all our sins, the seed and strength of a new life, comfort and admonition in life and in death, and hope for the whole world! Create in us the good spirit of freedom humbly and bravely to come to your Son, who comes to us!
Do this today in all of Christendom and in the world, that there may be many who break through all of the vain externalities of these festive days and celebrate a good Christmas with us. Amen

Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers

O Come and ransom

2011-12-03T12:30:00.000+11:00

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

On this day the virgin bears the transcendent

2011-12-02T09:40:00.001+11:00

On this day the Virgin beareth the Transcedent in Essence, to the Unapproachable the earth doth offer a small cave. Angel join in choiring with shepherds in giving glory, with a star the Magi travel upon their journey, for our sakes is born a young Child, He that existed before the ages as God.

Taize Christmas

2011-12-01T12:09:00.000+11:00

O Christ, the prophets foretold your coming, the poor longed to see you.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

The heavens celebrated your birth; the apostles, the martyrs and the faithful down through the ages repeated the song of the angels.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

Your Church praises you in every human language, for she has seen your salvation.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

Son of God, you humbled yourself and became a servant, raising us up to share in your glory.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

We were in darkness and you have given us light and strength, peace and joy.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

Lead us according to your loving will; make us a people who follow you in holiness.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

Give us generous hearts to hear your Word and produce in us abundant fruit.
—Our heart finds joy in God.

(From the Taize website)

Missionary Methods: John's or Ours?

2011-11-30T16:15:00.000+11:00

Nearing the end of his gospel, the beloved disciple writes

^20:30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Plenty of people take verse 31 as a purpose statement for the whole book, and rightly so.

Yet most popular preaching I've heard on John uses this verse in the following way.
1. John wrote this so you would believe.
2. I know how to get you to believe (runs through five spiritual laws, two ways to live etc)

Yet John didn't write 'Five Spiritual Laws', or 'Two ways to live'.
He wrote John.
with all it's weird bits, with all it's prayers, with all it's concentration on the Jews and Jewish festivals and Temple and comparison to Moses........ so that you would believe.
To miss that is to miss the potential for the actual book to actually bring people to belief

Sex means something

2011-11-28T09:39:00.000+11:00

Other than a pleasurable experience, sex means something. As I've preached through 1 Corinthians 6-7 I've realised how few people - in our churches - believe sex means something.

I mean that the bonding which sex brings is simply not believed. Sometimes people accept it within the context of coupledom but think singles can have 'pleasurable experience' without meaning. Others think that sex always is about the 'pleasurable experience' and that's what gives the bonding, not some tangible transformation that happens through sexual activity.

I've asked around and most people agree their non-Christian friends almost universally think this. Although some married non-Christians still don't think its right to share those experiences outside the marriage.

Two conclusions come from this. First people hear the prohibition against sexual immorality as an anti-pleasure anti-experience stance. But if bonding is true then the prohibition is against self-destruction and other person abuse.

Second, I'm not sure people in our churches understand 'the two will become one flesh'. (1 Cor 6:16) Consequently a key image in the doctrine of union with Christ is not understood. And therefore people do not understand the possible intimacy that exists between two people 'in Christ'.

Thus when I preach 1 Cor 7:38 'he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better' it is simply unlivable. Who believes marriage is right but unmarriage is better? Certainly not people who haven't grasped their current relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Simply put, 1 Cor 7 makes no sense if 6:12-20 is not understood and believed.

Thoughts from pastoral experience in this...

Principles for preaching- don't explain too much

2011-11-24T19:50:00.000+11:00

The Bible contains many different types of speech.
Unfortunately, most of our sermons are dominated by 'explanation'.
The frightening thing about preaching is that if you really boiled down the important bit you had to say, and then added on explanation of anything the congregation REALLY didn't know already, most sermons would be about three minutes long.
What we usually do is fill up another 20 minutes with more explanation.
So here is a crazy idea to try with your next sermon.
Only explain something if the congregation really can't understand it otherwise.
Once you know your points , find the most appropriate expression, and save explanation for what needs explaining.

So, think of the point you want to make.
Would a question make it better?
A preacher I knew, once preached his whole sermon as a story. You would think it wouldn't work, but as I talked to each of the congregation, they got all the points, even though he hadn't given them in propostitions
What a precious delight when a preacher revels in his words!
Who Savours: enjoys, appreciates, relishes, delights in, partakes of, drools over, luxuriates in, enjoys to the full, smacks their lips over.... Savour the flavour of each mouthful
Praise Jesus for his work in that preacher!
"Sing a joyful song to the Lord all the earth"
But my tears of frustration, a never-ending empty lament for the over-explainer.
You! you preacher, you are guilty of this accusation
"Won't somebody please make him stop, I beg you"
I must confess, however, that this list is an ideal for me, and not a reality
Lord, make me a better preacher, I pray
But my weakness doesn't absolve you of this charge
I exhort you, Stop explaining!
And sometimes even just..be silent...........

Jesus blood never failed me yet: a new year reflection and prayer

2011-11-24T11:51:00.000+11:00

For New Years Eve this year, I intend to have a time of silent reflection and prayer. To look back on the year that has passed, and God's faithfulness in it. And to look forward to another year of his faithful love.

I'm thinking of using Gavin Bryar's minimalist orchestral piece "Jesus blood never failed me yet" to accompany and focus the time.
The original (1971) is about 25 minutes, the extended version 74mins (1993). I like the discipline of the hour (and it finishes with Tom Waits!), and may play the Jesus film silently in the background.

Anyway, here is a five minute condensed version to whet your appetite.

Reflections on Holy Communion 7

2011-11-22T09:36:00.000+11:00

"And nothing shall be proclaimed or published in the Church during the time of Divine Service, but by the minister: nor by him any thing but what is prescribed in the Rules of this Book, or enjoined by the Queen, or by the Ordinary of this place"

Sometimes at my church, the announcements can go for 20 minutes, occasionally 30.

I guess it is important that people know what is going on through the week.
Still, announcements generally take up more time than prayer.
Is it possible we have got our priorities the wrong way around?

Principles for preaching- mix well

2011-11-20T09:17:00.000+11:00

Every now and then I listen to one of my sermons (off the internet). Often as I listen I think, all the ingredients are there, but it just hasn't come together as well as I hoped. I need to add a little time in my preparation for kneading.

Sometimes I make bread. It is fairly easy. You just throw together some flour, some yeast, some water and a pinch of salt. Yet if I simply threw the slurry of ingredients into the oven, the bread wouldn't be very tasty. What is required for bread is kneading.
Punching and pulling the ingredients so that the gluten in the flour binds with other glutens, so that it becomes rich in connections, fibrous, dense and stretchy.

I need to knead my sermons.

What might that mean?
Well for the current one I'm listening to, I set up really good catchphrase in the introduction. (The story of the boy and the Zen master from Charlie Wilson's War, with the catchphrase 'We'll see', to lead into the great reversal that will come at Jesus return).
Anyway, listening to the sermon, I realised that I could have added this short catchphrase into every point and illustration I had, but instead I left it to the end to return to it.
Knead away to make those connections.

Other times it works the other way. I make a point three quarters of the way through the sermon, and I realise that if I had worded my introduction slightly differently, the connection between them would be clearer. Or if I change my introduction slightly it can cover all the points I want to make in the sermon. Often you think you are trying to do one thing in an element of a sermon, but there are surprising connection with other parts. Doing a little kneading allows each part of the sermon to have maximum payoff, maximum resonance with the whole.
Knead away, so that the language from all the ingredients bleed into each other to make one tasty meal.

Going through this process of kneading often means there are large chunks of text that I must, and happily can, throw out. As each 'ingredient' is used to interpret and reinforce the others, I can be far more economical with my language.

Kneading means your sermon approaches poetry.

"What the reader craves, and I've spoken here already about the reader's primacy, are beautiful accidents, surprise and astonishment in the poem, doors opening outward to true vistas for the first time. Something built up from within, not merely extracted from the exterior. The connective tissue is the evanescent need to become part of something that is larger than humans or mere language, but parts of both compressed into radioactive poetry; the right words in the right order, lending light. A poem is an animal big enough to ride, teeming with unexpected energy, charting a course into the unknown, moments of agility and delight that do not throw the rider off its back, but serve as reminders of the exquisite muscularity and nimbleness of the animal, and the reader is made more beautiful as well, by having ridden it."

The Rhythm Method, Razzmatazz and Memory:
How To Make Your Poetry Swing
Keith Flynn

Reflection on Holy Communion 6

2011-11-17T20:53:00.000+11:00

Apparently if you eat the same thing every day, you get a condition called 'appetite fatigue'. Imagine eating just rice for 30 days. It isn't just that you get bored. Your body has a physiological reaction such that you would rather starve to death than eat another grain of rice.

There seems to be two solutions to appetite fatigue. Eat something different each day, or have a variety of foods available each day .

Many of our churches (at least in Sydney) have worried about a kind of 'appetite fatigue' that can happen from traditional liturgy. And so we have opted for variety, for something different each week, to try and keep us entertained and interested.

I think we have missed a fundamental reality of our tradition.
Our liturgies don't lay out bowls of plain rice each day. They put on a feast each day!!
This is especially true of the Apostles Creed.
Here is a feast of gospel truth. Here is a spread that reaches from eternity to eternity. Here is a feast worth eating every day! It never grows dull, because today you might savour one dish, the next day you might chew on another. Some days a plate might pass you by without you eating it, but that is ok, because tomorrow you will feast again.

Unfortunately our parishoners have become used to fast food. And so the thought of having a maccas liturgy over and over scares them. (and rightly so)
We need to introduce each other again to the feast that is worth eating each day, to words that are so full and rich that they bear daily repetition, that grow and ripen and have depth of flavour as they get older.

Most of this post is informed by eating with the Italian Family of my wife, but an even better example is the bundle of spices that make up the Vietnamese Pho ball. A while back I heard that the best Pho is made with a bundle of spices that gets reused. The bundle needs to be used regularly (to sterilize it), but each use adds a complexity of flavour to the ball of spices as the flavours blend and interconnect. The best Pho is made from spice balls that have literally been handed down through generations, gaining depth with every bowl of soup.
I miss Pho. I could it eat it every day

Reflections on Holy Communion 5

2011-11-16T09:54:00.000+11:00

“Remembering whose servant he is”
This meal is a political meal. In it we gather as a new people. In it we are fed by God. Yet there are others who feel the burden to feed us, chiefly our leaders. In the prayer for them, we pray that they might remember whose servant they are. Not ours, but God's. I heard an interview with Paul Keating the other day, where the interviewer was questioning Keating about his inaction over the abuses in Indonesia. Keating replied that he would have loved to intervene, but his first job as leader was to protect the interests of Australians. His frustration was palpable. “You cant sit there with you healthy pay packet and ipod and nice shoes and then ask that question”.
At the communion, we ask God to remind our leaders that they are not our servants, they are his. They are not to ‘protect our interests’, but to do what is right. God himself feeds us with eternal life. Prayer (even when not for leaders) is always a political act, because it names our true benefactor.

Adam Smith versus Paul

2011-11-15T07:20:00.000+11:00

"If we could really believe, however, of any man, that, was it not from a regard to his family and friends, he would not take that proper care of his health, his life, or his fortune, to which self-preservation alone ought to be sufficient to prompt him, it would undoubtedly be a failing, though one of those amiable failings, which render a person rather the object of pity than of contempt or hatred. It would still, however, somewhat diminish the dignity and respectableness of his character."
Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiments VII:3

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
Philippians 1:21-26

"so far from allowing self-love to be in any case a motive of virtuous actions, that even a regard to the pleasure of self-approbation, to the comfortable applause of our own consciences, according to him, diminished the merit of a benevolent action. This was a selfish motive, he thought, which, so far as it contributed to any action, demonstrated the weakness of that pure and disinterested benevolence which could alone stamp upon the conduct of man the character of virtue. In the common judgments of mankind, however, this regard to the approbation of our own minds is so far from being considered as what can in any respect diminish the virtue of any action, that it is rather looked upon as the sole motive which deserves the appellation of virtuous."
ibid

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Phillipians 3:7-10

Stealing Eugenio Barba to speak of prayer and action

2011-11-14T09:51:00.000+11:00

"This imperceptible daily transformation of one's own way of seeing, approaching and judging the problems of one's own existence and that of others, this sifting of one's own prejudices, one's own doubts- not through gestures and grandiloquent phrases but through the silent daily activity- is reflected in one's work which finds new justifications, new reactions: thus one's north is displaced"

Eugenio Barba ' Words or Presence'

Reflections on Holy Communion 4

2011-11-12T16:53:00.000+11:00

"Lord have mercy on us and incline our hearts to keep this law."

Is it possible to repeat these words, and yet see God’s law as opposed to grace?
Is there anything our churches need more today than to pray for the grace of obedience?
Is there any pagan concept more pervasive than freedom as undirected autonomy?
Or do we think we can obey God without his outpoured mercy?
Are we not under the law of Christ?
Lord , have mercy on us, and incline our hearts to keep your law

Principles for preaching- get ready to be crucified

2011-11-10T13:31:00.000+11:00

Bonhoeffer famously said "When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die".

If, as preachers, we are preaching Christ truly, then we are asking our congregations to die. Literally. Like actually do things that could well get them killed. Not necessarily heroically, perhaps obscurely. Not just taking a stand for the truth, but perhaps pouring themselves out in love of the weak.

People, even Christians, don't really like that call.
And so as you get up to preach, you should have some sense of dread
"This sermon could get me fired"
even,
"This sermon could get me lynched"

If you don't have that feeling, are you really asking them to walk with Jesus into the New Creation? Or are you making them comfortable for this world?

*NB By God's grace and Holy Spirit, those sermons where you think people will hate you are often the ones that Christians respond best to. Finally someone has assured them that following Jesus into suffering is in fact the path to resurrection glory!

"The [listener] must approach as they might a surgeon, knowing, of course, that he will not die, but that it is a serious thing and he will not come out of it unscathed...He must be totally convinced that we are capable of making him scream" Antonin Artaud

The wealthy are not to be envied, or even hated, they are to be pitied

2011-11-08T20:45:00.000+11:00

Now listen you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire

You have hoarded wealth in the last days!!

We need to cultivate a completely different attitude towards wealth. It is dangerous! You don't want to hold on to it or it will burn your flesh like fire.
Give it away, give it away, that is what God gave it to you for!

Reflections on Holy Communion 3

2011-11-08T16:48:00.000+11:00

"Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord Amen"

Ah what a host we come to! Not a strangers table, where we must pretend and impress.
But our Fathers table, a family table, where we are known as we are, our hearts are open, our desires known, there are no secrets. What a host we come to! Not a brooding Father who frustrates, who leaves us guessing how to please him, who lets us wander in careless conversation as he grows more distant. But one who cleanses our thoughts, who guides us in love of him, who helps us honour him as we eat.

Do you call upon God at the beginning of communion, that you may eat well, magnifying his name? If you don’t use the Anglican collect, how do you do it?

Calvin on disobeying authorities and deferral to the judgment of women.

2011-11-07T19:54:00.000+11:00

Those, whom the fear of men withdraws from the right course, betray by their cowardice an inexcusable contempt of God, in preferring the favour of men to his solemn commands...for many would be preposterously wise, whilst, under the pretext of due submission, they obey the wicked will of kings in opposition to justice and right, being in some cases the ministers of avarice and rapacity, in others cruelty; yea, to gratify transitory kings of earth, they take no account of God; and thus, which is worst of all, they designedly oppose pure religion with fire and sword. It only makes their effontry more detestable, that whilst they knowingly and willingly crucify Christ in his members, they plead the frivolous excuse, that they obey their princes according to the word of God; as if he, in ordaining princes, had resigned his rights to them, and as if every earthly power, which exalts itself over heaven, ought not rather most justly be made to give way. But since they only seek to escape the reprobation of men for their criminal obedience, let them not be argued with by long discussions, but rather referred to the judgement of women; for the example of these midwives (Exodus 1) is abundantly sufficient for their condemnation; especially when the Holy Spirit himself commends them, as not having obeyed the king, because they feared God.
Calvin's Commentaries Vol 2: The four last books of Moses in the form of a harmony Baker p35

So, ministers of avarice and rapacity anyone? Good to see the good old CofE taking the side of those in power for once

Reflections on Holy Communion 2

2011-11-05T15:37:00.000+11:00

There are rules, there is ettiquette to this meal, but most of them protect your privilege to a plate at the family meal. The minister is the servant, not the host. No one can stop you coming simply because they don’t like you. It is a grave thing to refuse a family member a seat at the table. And though sometimes this may be necessary, it is not entered into lightly. And yet like the attentive aunt, the minister must attempt to see conflict resolved, wounds healed, and fights ceased before we sit down to eat. Let us eat in peace and please the host!

Have you ever asked permission of the Bishop to refuse communion? If not, why not?

Refections on Holy Communion 1

2011-11-04T15:35:00.000+11:00

This meal is not fast food, eaten at your leisure, eaten in the privacy of your car as your life rushes on. This meal is not even a restaurant requiring a booking. This is a family meal, you let the host (and others)know you are coming, and you better have a good excuse if you aren’t!. This is family meal, you make sure you are there. This is a family meal..... (so we can always pull up another seat for last minute guests)

Why do we no longer let the curate know we are to attend communion?

Love your widow/ers, the world keeps turning

2011-11-03T09:09:00.000+11:00

A number of years ago I picked up a second hand copy of the PTC course "New Testament 1". The copy previously belonged to an older man from the early morning congregation.

At the beginning of unit 10, about the betrayal and death of Jesus, the course had an introductory question
"What is the worst loneliness that you can imagine?"
Below, in an older man's small cursive script, he had written
"To be married for 50 years to your best friend and to suddenly lose her"
I knew he wasn't imagining.
There is a bit of a mood in our churches to resent the elderly for their demands on our time and energy. Yet these are the people on the front line with the reality of a broken world.
Death comes early to all the elderly, and possibly worse for those who live longest.
As one man in my church said "My world died decades ago, now there is a different world I don't know and doesn't know me".

Why do they need our prayers and time help and encouragement? I think Tom Waits puts it best
"They always say he marks the sparrows fall, how can anyone believe it all.
Well the band has stopped playing but we keep dancing,
the world keeps turning, the world keeps turning"

In a world of death, love becomes a poison and our good memories betray us.
The good of the world turns sour, however good it is.
We need a resurrection.

Is God imprisoned or active in the church gathering?

2011-11-02T20:28:00.000+11:00

At the reformation, the hordes gathered, ready to tear down the walls and traditions of the church, because men had imprisoned God inside them, and God must be free to be in the world. And rightly so. We, however, do not live in the time of the reformation. The hordes stand ready to tear down the walls and traditions, not to free God, but because they are offended by the freedom he has within those walls. Those christians who long for the turbulent days, who imagine themselves as liberators as they attack the church and her practices, are deluded. Those christians who join the hordes and clamour for the church to be like the nations (for the sake of evangelism of course), wearing reformation banners, are the trigger happy adolescent soldiers, merrily raping and pillaging whoever happens to be nearby. Dare I say that this is even behind the cry 'all of life is worship'? If by this you mean God spills over from the contemplation, communion with God's presence, praise and joyful response of the gathering, soaking your days with the sacred and swelling into an even greater wave of praise the next sunday, then I say Amen. If, however, you mean I should stop thinking the gathering is special and treat it as a drudging lecture and horizontal cattle prod devoid of mystery because thats how the 'real world' is, and we need to reach the 'real world', I think you have joined the wrong hordes.

Eating poo and christian ministry

2011-11-01T14:26:00.000+11:00

After a long and serious conversation with our youth minister, we came up with an appropriate analogy for the kids, to try and explain to them why we are constantly on their back about being counter-cultural, about reading the bible, about turning up to church.
It is not just because these things are right. It's not just that they should do them. It is because these things are good for them, and we love them.
"It is like we are telling you to not eat your own poo".
Sure, you can if you want to. But there are better things to eat. It isn't that we get angry when you don't, we just get sad for you.
Not following Jesus is like eating your own poo.
It also can be abbreviated into disturbing hand actions.

Adam Smith and Christian confession

2011-10-29T13:41:00.000+11:00

I've been reading some Adam Smith (to try and understand the philosophical underpinning of our society).
It is interesting. Though he is generally pointed to by free-market evangelists, because his focus on self-interest as a force for good, he notices problems and tensions in his own position.
In his final revision of "A Theory of Moral Sentiments", he added a section called 'Of the corruption of our moral sentiments, which is occasioned by this disposition to admire the rich and great, and to despise or neglect persons of poor or mean condition'.
The problem was, this 'disposition' messed with his theory of why people act benevolently. Smith knew that some (much) charity was manipulative and self-serving, and even proposed a kind of 'charity market', where people gave to the poor in order to gain the approval of a third party. But even this was not enough, and so Smith required an internal imaginary observer that benevolent people were trying to please. His system of self interest reduced the capacity (though hopefully the need too!) of people to feel the necessary sympathy for other human beings. (and not just the rich either, he saw that the increasing specialisation of labour reduced the poor and middle classes moral imagination too)
Though Smith advocated for self interest, he expected the wealthy to also have 'self command', to be able to put aside self interest in order to act nobly. There was a tension in his thought however. The conditions that lead to charitable giving were usually financial security, but the conditions that lead to 'self-command' were hardship and struggle. How could a person both be generous (from security) and display self command (from embracing hardship), all in a context of self interest.

As I read through, it all makes me think of James, and the extremely basic christian confession we make each time we have communion.
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again.

Christ has died, and we are called to share in his crucified life, to share, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in his selfless 'self command'
Christ has risen. This self command however is in the context of the abundant generosity of God in raising the dead (chief among his many other blessings). Christians stand in the ultimate place of security and so can be ultimately generous.
Christ will come again. Living generously to the needy is, in the end, in our best interests, because God will give grace to the humble and destroy the proud. Jesus will return as judge to condemn those who have not lived lives of cross and resurrection hope, who have not lived lives of love. Though earthly governments may or may not be wise to legislate beneficence, God does, and we are absolute fools if we disobey him.

Is God a worshipper?

2011-10-28T11:42:00.000+11:00

Idols are not Gods. They never were. Not just in the 'our-God-is-the-only-true-one' sense. Idols were not the gods of the pagans either. They simply represented the gods. They were the image of the god.
So why does YHWH forbid the making of idols? Why does he forbid lifting them up and venerating them? Why cant we even make an idol of YHWH?
I have a hunch it is because he has already made a royal image. Humans are the idol of God that he himself will lift up.
Over at Faith and Theology, Ben has some interesting reflection on the Virgin of Vladimir icon.
Possibly the most provocative of his suggestions is the idea that Christ 'worships' humanity.

"For no other word comes close to evoking the extent of Christ's devotion to humanity. To speak of Christ's "love" is too hackneyed and half-hearted. When we talk of love, we tend to think of delirious teenagers locked in the obsessiveness of romance, or of a man seducing a woman into his bed, or maybe of an old married couple, contented and at peace. But we would perhaps be closer to the truth if we imagined Christ's devotion to humanity as analogous to the piercing clarity and conviction with which the fundamentalist offers his life to god before going out into the busy street and detonating himself."

There is something in this. God is honoured when he lifts up humanity, his own representative 'idol'. Idolatry then, not only offends God, but degrades humanity. But love of neighbour is tightly bound to love of God. Indeed, the claim to love God, but not honour his 'idol' simply does not make sense.

God carries us, we do not carry him

2011-10-24T05:30:00.000+11:00

Our churches, on the whole, are tired.
Over a long decline, there is a sense that we are walking into a cultural exile.
Though we are wearied with many burdens, I want to suggest that the heaviest burden, and the one we should first cast away, is God. We must throw off the great weight of responsibility to carry God to the nations, to bear God into future generations. This isn't some liberal call to embrace the death of God, but it is Isaiah's call to trust a living God.
In Isaiah 46, God contrasts himself with the idols Bel and Nebo. The idols are born on the shoulders of men, they are loaded onto weary beasts, unable to save the burden, because they themselves are part of the burden.
YHWH however, has carried his people Israel from the beginning. He bore them in the womb and will prop them up as they grow old and gray.
He is not carried along by the whim and caprice of history, but himself bears, carries and drives history. There is none like him, who declares the end from the beginning.

The despondency, frantic activity and weariness of our churches unmasks a fundamental idolatry. We think we need to carry God. Instead we should rest in his promise
"I made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and save you"

What Child is this anyway

2011-10-18T13:03:00.000+11:00

What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Is the mission of the church just to talk and make individul disciples, the content of their discipleship being more talking.

2011-10-18T11:15:00.000+11:00

Joel Willits critiques Kevin DeYoung's reductionism here

A Welcoming Church

2011-10-17T11:03:00.000+11:00

A welcoming church is one that knows itself as constantly made new by confession and the comfort of God's word.
If we receive and rejoice in each other simply because of our shared history, there is no room for the newcomer.
But if we fail to receive and rejoice in each other, our churches are cold.

Many of our churches have abandoned confession, absolution and the greeting of the peace in order to make newcomers more comfortable. And it is true, newcomers probably are more comfortable with this kind of social club, but we are no longer welcoming them (or each other) into the church of God.

A smokin Bible

2011-10-15T15:44:00.000+11:00

Turns out we need the smokers to keep poisoning their lungs if we want cheap and light Bibles.

Or , alternately, we need to lock up our Bibles because they will get turned into cigarettes once paper production winds back.
Get me a chisel and some stone!

Robert Browning: A Death in the Desert, a fictional interaction between John and liberalism

2011-10-15T11:01:00.000+11:00

[Supposed of Pamphylax the Antiochene:
It is a parchment, of my rolls the fifth,
Hath three skins glued together, is all Greek,
And goeth from Epsilon down to Mu:
Lies second in the surnamed Chosen Chest,
Stained and conserved with juice of terebinth,
Covered with cloth of hair, and lettered Xi,
From Xanthus, my wife’s uncle, now at peace:
Mu and Epsilon stand for my own name.
I may not write it, but I make a cross
To show I wait His coming, with the rest,
And leave off here: beginneth Pamphylax.]

I said, “If one should wet his lips with wine,
“And slip the broadest plantain-leaf we find,
“Or else the lappet of a linen robe,
“Into the water-vessel, lay it right,
“And cool his forehead just above the eyes,
“The while a brother, kneeling either side,
“Should chafe each hand and try to make it warm,—
“He is not so far gone but he might speak.”

This did not happen in the outer cave,
Nor in the secret chamber of the rock
Where, sixty days since the decree was out,
We had him, bedded on a camel-skin,
And waited for his dying all the while;
But in the midmost grotto: since noon’s light
Reached there a little, and we would not lose
The last of what might happen on his face.

I at the head, and Xanthus at the feet,
With Valens and the Boy, had lifted him,
And brought him from the chamber in the depths,
And laid him in the light where we might see:
For certain smiles began about his mouth,
And his lids moved, presageful of the end.

Beyond, and half way up the mouth o’ the cave
The Bactrian convert, having his desire,
Kept watch, and made pretence to graze a goat
That gave us milk, on rags of various herb,
Plantain and quitch, the rocks’ shade keeps alive:
So that if any thief or soldier passed
(Because the persecution was aware,
Yielding the goat up promptly with his life,
Such man might pass on, joyful at a prize,
Nor care to pry into the cool o’ the cave.
Outside was all noon and the burning blue.

“Here is wine,” answered Xanthus,—dropped a drop;
I stooped and placed the lap of cloth aright,
Then chafed his right hand, and the Boy his left:
But Valens had bethought him, and produced
And broke a ball of nard, and made perfume.
Only, he did—not so much wake, as—turn
And smile a little, as a sleeper does
If any dear one call him, touch his face—
And smiles and loves, but will not be disturbed.

Then Xanthus said a prayer, but still he slept:
It is the Xanthus that escaped to Rome,
Was burned, and could not write the chronicle.

Then the Boy sprang up from his knees, and ran,
Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought,
And fetched the seventh plate of graven lead
Out of the secret chamber, found a place,
Pressing with finger on the deeper dints,
And spoke, as ’t were his mouth proclaiming first,
“I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

Whereat he opened his eyes wide at once,
And sat up of himself, and looked at us;
And thenceforth nobody pronounced a word:
Only, outside, the Bactrian cried his cry
Like the lone desert-bird that wears the ruff,
As signal we were safe, from time to time.

First he said, “If a friend declared to me,
“This my son Valens, this my other son,
“Were James and Peter,—nay, declared as well
“This lad was very John,—I could believe!
“—Could, for a moment, doubtlessly believe:
“So is myself withdrawn into my depths,
“The soul retreated from the perished brain
“Whence it was wont to feel and use the world
“Through these dull members, done with long ago.
“Yet I myself remain; I feel myself:
“And there is nothing lost. Let be, awhile!”

[This is the doctrine he was wont to teach,
How divers persons witness in each man,
Three souls which make up one soul: first, to wit,
A soul of each and all the bodily parts,
Seated therein, which works, and is what Does,
And has the use of earth, and ends the man
Downward: but, tending upward for advice,
Grows into, and again is grown into
By the next soul, which, seated in the brain,
Useth the first with its collected use,
And feeleth, thinketh, willeth,—is what Knows:
Which, duly tending upward in its turn,
Grows into, and again is grown into
By the last soul, that uses both the first,
Subsisting whether they assist or no,
And, constituting man’s self, is what Is—
And leans upon the former, makes it play,
As that played off the first: and, tending up,
Holds, is upheld by, God, and ends the man
Upward in that dread point of intercourse,
Nor needs a place, for it returns to Him.
What Does, what Knows, what Is; three souls, one man.
I give the glossa of Theotypas.]

And then, “A stick, once fire from end to end;
“Now, ashes save the tip that holds a spark!
“Yet, blow the spark, it runs back, spreads itself
“A little where the fire was: thus I urge
“The soul that served me, till it task once more
“What ashes of my brain have kept their shape,
“And these make effort on the last o’ the flesh,
“Trying to taste again the truth of things—”
(He smiled)—“their very superficial truth;
“As that ye are my sons, that it is long
“Since James and Peter had release by death,
“And I am only he, your brother John,
“Who saw and heard, and could remember all.
“Remember all! It is not much to say.
“What if the truth broke on me from above
“As once and oft-times? Such might hap again:
“Doubtlessly He might stand in presence here,
“With head wool-white, eyes flame, and feet like brass,
“The sword and the seven stars, as I have seen—
“I who now shudder only and surmise
“How did your brother bear that sight and live?’

“If I live yet, it is for good, more love
“Through me to men: be nought but ashes here
“That keep awhile my semblance, who was John,—
“Still, when they scatter, there is left on earth
“No one alive who knew (consider this!)
“—Saw with his eyes and handled with his hands
“That which was from the first, the Word of Life.
“How will it be when none more saith ‘I saw’?

“Such ever was love’s way: to rise, it stoops.
“Since I, whom Christ’s mouth taught, was bidden teach,
“I went, for many years, about the world,
“Saying ‘It was so; so I heard and saw,’
“Speaking as the case asked: and men believed.
“Afterward came the message to myself
“In Patmos isle; I was not bidden teach,
“But simply listen, take a book and write,
“Nor set down other than the given word,
“With nothing left to my arbitrament
“To choose or change: I wrote, and men believed.
“Then, for my time grew brief, no message more,
“No call to write again, I found a way,
“And, reasoning from my knowledge, merely taught
“Men should, for love’s sake, in love’s strength believe;
“Or I would pen a letter to a friend
“And urge the same as friend, nor less nor more:
“Friends said I reasoned rightly, and believed.
“But at the last, why, I seemed left alive
“Like a sea jelly weak on Patmos strand,
“To tell dry sea-beach gazers how I fared
“When there was mid-sea, and the mighty things;
“Left to repeat, ‘I saw, I heard, I knew,’
“And go all over the old ground again,
“With Antichrist already in the world,
“And many Antichrists, who answered prompt
“‘Am I not Jasper as thyself art John?
“‘Nay, young, whereas through age thou mayest forget;
“‘Wherefore, explain, or how shall we believe?
“I never thought to call down fire on such,
“Or, as in wonderful and early days,
“Pick up the scorpion, tread the serpent dumb;
“But patient stated much of the Lord’s life
“Forgotten or misdelivered, and let it work:
“Since much that at the first, in deed and word,
“Lay simply and sufficiently exposed,
“Had grown (or else my soul was grown to match,
“Fed through such years, familiar with such light,
“Guarded and guided still to see and speak)
“Of new significance and fresh result;
“What first were guessed as points, I now knew stars,
“And named them in the Gospel I have writ.
“For men said, ‘It is getting long ago:
“‘Where is the promise of His coming?’—asked
“These young ones in their strength, as loth to wait,
“Of me who, when their sires were born, was old.
“I, for I loved them, answered, joyfully,
“Since I was there, and helpful in my age;
“And, in the main, I think such men believed.
“Finally, thus endeavouring, I fell sick,
“Ye brought me here, and I supposed the end,
“And went to sleep with one thought that, at least,
“Though the whole earth should lie in wickedness,
“We had the truth, might leave the rest to God.
“Yet now I wake in such decrepitude
“As I had slidden down and fallen afar,
“Past even the presence of my former self,
“Grasping the while for stay at facts which snap,
“Till I am found away from my own world,
Feeling for foot-hold through a blank profound,
“Along with unborn people in strange lands,
“Who say—I hear said or conceive they say—
“‘Was John at all, and did he say he saw?
“‘Assure us, ere we ask what he might see!’

“And how shall I assure them? Can they share
“—They, who have flesh, a veil of youth and strength
“About each spirit, that needs must bide its time,
“Living and learning still as years assist
“Which wear the thickness thin, and let man see—
“With me who hardly am withheld at all,
“But shudderingly, scarce a shred between,
“Lie bare to the universal prick of light?
“Is it for nothing we grow old and weak,
“We whom God loves? When pain ends, gain ends too.
“To me, that story—ay, that Life and Death
“Of which I wrote ‘it was’—to me, it is;
“—Is, here and now: I apprehend nought else.
“Is not God now i’ the world His power first made?
“Is not His love at issue still with sin,
“Visibly when a wrong is done on earth?
“Love, wrong, and pain, what see I else around?
“Yea, and the Resurrection and Uprise
“To the right hand of the throne—what is it beside,
“When such truth, breaking bounds, o’erfloods my soul,
“And, as I saw the sin and death, even so
“See I the need yet transiency of both,
“The good and glory consummated thence?
“I saw the power; I see the Love, once weak,
“Resume the Power: and in this word ‘I see,’
“Lo, there is recognized the Spirit of both
“That moving o’er the spirit of man, unblinds
“His eye and bids him look. These are, I see;
“But ye, the children, His beloved ones too,
“Ye need,—as I should use an optic glass
“I wondered at erewhile, somewhere i’ the world,
“It had been given a crafty smith to make;
“A tube, he turned on objects brought too close,
“Lying confusedly insubordinate
“For the unassisted eye to master once:
“Look through his tube, at distance now they lay,
“Become succinct, distinct, so small, so clear!
“Just thus, ye needs must apprehend what truth
“I see, reduced to plain historic fact,
“Diminished into clearness, proved a point
“And far away: ye would withdraw your sense
“From out eternity, strain it upon time,
“Then stand before that fact, that Life and Death,
“Stay there at gaze, till it dispart, dispread,
“As though a star should open out, all sides,
“Grow the world on you, as it is my world.

“For life, with all it yields of joy and woe
“And hope and fear,—believe the aged friend,—
“Is just our chance o’ the prize of learning love,
“How love might be, hath been indeed, and is;
“And that we hold thenceforth to the uttermost
“Such prize despite the envy of the world,
“And, having gained truth, keep truth: that is all.
“But see the double way wherein we are led,
“How the soul learns diversely from the flesh!
“With flesh, that hath so little time to stay,
“And yields mere basement for the soul’s emprise,
“Expect prompt teaching. Helpful was the light,
“And warmth was cherishing and food was choice
“To every man’s flesh, thousand years ago,
“As now to yours and mine; the body sprang
“At once to the height, and stayed: but the soul,—no!
“Since sages who, this noontide, meditate
“In Rome or Athens, may descry some point
“Of the eternal power, hid yestereve;
“And, as thereby the power’s whole mass extends,
“So much extends the æther floating o’er,
“The love that tops the might, the Christ in God.
“Then, as new lessons shall be learned in these
“Till earth’s work stop and useless time run out,
“So duly, daily, needs provision be
“For keeping the soul’s prowess possible,
“Building new barriers as the old decay,
“Saving us from evasion of life’s proof,
“Putting the question ever, ‘Does God love,
“‘And will ye hold that truth against the world?’
“Ye know there needs no second proof with good
“Gained for our flesh from any earthly source:
“We might go freezing, ages,—give us fire,
“Thereafter we judge fire at its full worth,
“And guard it safe through every chance, ye know!
“That fable of Prometheus and his theft,
“How mortals gained Jove’s fiery flower, grows old
“(I have been used to hear the pagans own)
“And out of mind; but fire, howe’er its birth,
“Here is it, precious to the sophist now
“Who laughs the myth of Æschylus to scorn,
“As precious to those satyrs of his play,
“Who touched it in gay wonder at the thing.
“While were it so with the soul,—this gift of truth
“Once grasped, were this our soul’s gain safe, and sure
“To prosper as the body’s gain is wont,—
“Why, man’s probation would conclude, his earth
“Crumble; for he both reasons and decides,
“Weighs first, then chooses: will he give up fire
“For gold or purple once he knows its worth?
“Could he give Christ up were His worth as plain?
“Therefore, I say, to test man, the proofs shift,
“Nor may he grasp that fact like other fact,
“And straightway in his life acknowledge it,
“As, say, the indubitable bliss of fire.
“Sigh ye, ‘It had been easier once than now’?
“To give you answer I am left alive;
“Look at me who was present from the first!
“Ye know what things I saw; then came a test,
“My first, befitting me who so had seen:
“‘Forsake the Christ thou sawest transfigured, Him
“‘Who trod the sea and brought the dead to life?
“‘What should wring this from thee!’—ye laugh and ask.
“What wrung it? Even a torchlight and a noise,
“The sudden Roman faces, violent hands,
“And fear of what the Jews might do! Just that,
“And it is written, ‘I forsook and fled:’
“There was my trial, and it ended thus.
“Ay, but my soul had gained its truth, could grow:
“Another year or two,—what little child,
“What tender woman that had seen no least
“Of all my sights, but barely heard them told,
“Who did not clasp the cross with a light laugh,
“Or wrap the burning robe round, thanking God?
“Well, was truth safe for ever, then? Not so.
“Already had begun the silent work
“Whereby truth, deadened of its absolute blaze,
“Might need love’s eye to pierce the o’erstretched doubt.
“Teachers were busy, whispering ‘All is true
“‘As the aged ones report; but youth can reach
“‘Where age gropes dimly, weak with stir and strain,
“‘And the full doctrine slumbers till to-day.’
“Thus, what the Roman’s lowered spear was found,
“A bar to me who touched and handled truth,
“Now proved the glozing of some new shrewd tongue,
“This Ebion, this Cerinthus or their mates,
“Till imminent was the outcry ‘Save our Christ!’
“Whereon I stated much of the Lord’s life
“Forgotten or misdelivered, and let it work.
“Such work done, as it will be, what comes next?
“What do I hear say, or conceive men say,
“‘Was John at all, and did he say he saw?
“‘Assure us, ere we ask what he might see!’

“Is this indeed a burthen for late days,
“And may I help to bear it with you all,
“Using my weakness which becomes your strength?
“For if a babe were born inside this grot,
“Grew to a boy here, heard us praise the sun,
“Yet had but yon sole glimmer in light’s place,—
“One loving him and wishful he should learn,
“Would much rejoice himself was blinded first
“Month by month here, so made to understand
“How eyes, born darkling, apprehend amiss:
“I think I could explain to such a child
“There was more glow outside than gleams he caught,
“Ay, nor need urge ‘I saw it, so believe!’
“It is a heavy burthen you shall bear
“In latter days, new lands, or old grown strange,
“Left without me, which must be very soon.
“What is the doubt, my brothers? Quick with it!
“I see you stand conversing, each new face,
“Either in fields, of yellow summer eves,
“On islets yet unnamed amid the sea;
“Or pace for shelter ’neath a portico
“Out of the crowd in some enormous town
“Where now the larks sing in a solitude;
“Or muse upon blank heaps of stone and sand
“Idly conjectured to be Ephesus:
“And no one asks his fellow any more
“‘Where is the promise of His coming?’ but
“‘Was he revealed in any of His lives,
“‘As Power, as Love, as Influencing Soul?’

“Quick, for time presses, tell the whole mind out,
“And let us ask and answer and be saved!
“My book speaks on, because it cannot pass;
“One listens quietly, nor scoffs but pleads
“‘Here is a tale of things done ages since;
“‘What truth was ever told the second day?
“‘Wonders, that would prove doctrine, go for nought.
“‘Remains the doctrine, love; well, we must love,
“‘And what we love most, power and love in one,
“‘Let us acknowledge on the record here,
“‘Accepting these in Christ: must Christ then be?
“‘Has He been? Did not we ourselves make Him?
“‘Our mind receives but what it holds, no more.
“‘First of the love, then; we acknowledge Christ—
“‘A proof we comprehend His love, a proof
“‘We had such love already in ourselves,
“‘Knew first what else we should not recognize.
“‘’Tis mere projection from man’s inmost mind,
“‘And, what he loves, thus falls reflected back,
“‘Becomes accounted somewhat out of him;
“‘He throws it up in air, it drops down earth’s,
“‘With shape, name, story added, man’s old way.
“‘How prove you Christ came otherwise at least?
“‘Next try the power: He made and rules the world:
“‘Certes there is a world once made, now ruled,
“‘Unless things have been ever as we see.
“‘Our sires declared a charioteer’s yoked steeds
“‘Brought the sun up the east and down the west,
“‘Which only of itself now rises, sets,
“‘As if a hand impelled it and a will,—
“‘Thus they long thought, they who had will and hands:
“‘But the new question’s whisper is distinct,
“‘Wherefore must all force needs be like ourselves?
“‘We have the hands, the will; what made and drives
“‘The sun is force, is law, is named, not known,
“‘While will and love we do know; marks of these,
“‘Eye-witnesses attest, so books declare—
“‘As that, to punish or reward our race,
“‘The sun at undue times arose or set
“‘Or else stood still: what do not men affirm?
“‘But earth requires as urgently reward
“‘Or punishment to-day as years ago,
“‘And none expects the sun will interpose:
“‘Therefore it was mere passion and mistake,
“‘Or erring zeal for right, which changed the truth.
“‘Go back, far, farther, to the birth of things;
“‘Ever the will, the intelligence, the love,
“‘Man’s!—which he gives, supposing he but finds,
“‘As late he gave head, body, hands and feet,
“‘To help these in what forms he called his gods.
“‘First, Jove’s brow, Juno’s eyes were swept away,
“‘But Jove’s wrath, Juno’s pride continued long;
“‘As last, will, power, and love discarded these,
“‘So law in turn discards power, love, and will.
“‘What proveth God is otherwise at least?
“‘All else, projection from the mind of man!

“Nay, do not give me wine, for I am strong,
“But place my gospel where I put my hands.

“I say that man was made to grow, not stop;
“That help, he needed once, and needs no more,
“Having grown but an inch by, is withdrawn:
“For he hath new needs, and new helps to these.
“This imports solely, man should mount on each
“New height in view; the help whereby he mounts,
“The ladder-rung his foot has left, may fall,
“Since all things suffer change save God the Truth.
“Man apprehends Him newly at each stage
“Whereat earth’s ladder drops, its service done;
“And nothing shall prove twice what once was proved.
“You stick a garden-plot with ordered twigs
“To show inside lie germs of herbs unborn,
“And check the careless step would spoil their birth;
“But when herbs wave, the guardian twigs may go,
“Since should ye doubt of virtues, question kinds,
“It is no longer for old twigs ye look,
“Which proved once underneath lay store of seed,
“But to the herb’s self, by what light ye boast,
“For what fruit’s signs are. This book’s fruit is plain,
“Nor miracles need prove it any more.
“Doth the fruit show? Then miracles bade ’ware
“At first of root and stem, saved both till now
“From trampling ox, rough boar and wanton goat.
“What? Was man made a wheelwork to wind up,
“And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
“No!—grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne’er forgets:
“May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.

“This might be pagan teaching: now hear mine.

“I say, that as the babe, you feed awhile,
“Becomes a boy and fit to feed himself,
“So, minds at first must be spoon-fed with truth:
“When they can eat, babe’s-nurture is withdrawn.
“I fed the babe whether it would or no:
“I bid the boy or feed himself or starve.
“I cried once, ‘That ye may believe in Christ,
“‘Behold this blind man shall receive his sight!’
“I cry now, ‘Urgest thou, for I am shrewd
“‘And smile at stories how John’s word could cure—
“‘Repeat that miracle and take my faith?’
“I say, that miracle was duly wrought
“When, save for it, no faith was possible.
“Whether a change were wrought i’ the shows o’ the world,
“Whether the change came from our minds which see
“Of shows o’ the world so much as and no more
“Than God wills for His purpose,—(what do I
“See now, suppose you, there where you see rock
“Round us?)—I know not; such was the effect,
“So faith grew, making void more miracles
“Because too much; they would compel, not help.
“I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ
“Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee
“All questions in the earth and out of it,
“And has so far advanced thee to be wise.
“Wouldst thou unprove this to re-prove the proved?
“In life’s mere minute, with power to use that proof,
“Leave knowledge and revert to how it sprung?
“Thou hast it: use it and forthwith, or die!

“For I say, this is death and the sole death,
“When a man’s loss comes to him from his gain,
“Darkness from light, from knowledge ignorance,
“And lack of love from love made manifest;
“A lamp’s death when, replete with oil, it chokes;
“A stomach’s when, surcharged with food, it starves.
“With Ignorance was surety of a cure.
“When man, appalled at nature, questioned first
“‘What if there lurk a might behind this might?’
“He needed satisfaction God could give,
“And did give, as ye have the written word:
“But when he finds might still redouble might,
“Yet asks, ‘Since all is might, what use of will?’
“—Will, the one source of might,—he being man
“With a man’s will and a man’s might, to teach
“In little how the two combine in large,—
“That man has turned round on himself and stands,
“Which in the course of nature is, to die.

“And when man questioned, ‘What if there be love
“‘Behind the will and might, as real as they?’—
“He needed satisfaction God could give,
“And did give, as ye have the written word:
“But when, beholding that love everywhere,
“He reasons, ‘Since such love is everywhere,
“‘And since ourselves can love and would be loved,
“‘We ourselves make the love, and Christ was not,’—
“How shall ye help this man who knows himself,
“That he must love and would be loved again,
“Yet, owning his own love that proveth Christ,
“Rejecteth Christ though very need of Him?
“The lamp o’erswims with oil, the stomach flags
“Loaded with nurture, and that man’s soul dies.

“If he rejoin, ‘But this was all the while
“‘A trick; the fault was, first of all, in thee,
“‘Thy story of the places, names and dates
“‘Where, when and how the ultimate truth had rise,
“‘—Thy prior truth, at last discovered none,
“‘Whence now the second suffers detriment.
“‘What good of giving knowledge if, because
“‘O’ the manner of the gift, its profit fail?
“‘And why refuse what modicum of help
“‘Had stopped the after-doubt, impossible
“‘I’ the face of truth—truth absolute, uniform?
“‘Why must I hit of this and miss of that,
“‘Distinguish just as I be weak or strong,
“‘And not ask of thee and have answer prompt,
“‘Was this once, was it not once?—then and now
“‘And evermore, plain truth from man to man.
“‘Is John’s procedure just the heathen bard’s?
“‘Put question of his famous play again
“‘How for the ephemerals’ sake Jove’s fire was filched,
“‘And carried in a cane and brought to earth:
“‘The fact is in the fable, cry the wise,
“‘Mortals obtained the boon, so much is fact,
“‘Though fire be spirit and produced on earth.
“‘As with the Titan’s, so now with thy tale:
“‘Why breed in us perplexity, mistake,
“‘Nor tell the whole truth in the proper words?’

“I answer, Have ye yet to argue out
“The very primal thesis, plainest law,
“—Man is not God but hath God’s end to serve,
“A master to obey, a course to take,
“Somewhat to cast off, somewhat to become?
“Grant this, then man must pass from old to new,
“From vain to real, from mistake to fact,
“From what once seemed good, to what now proves best.
“How could man have progression otherwise?
“Before the point was mooted ‘What is God?’
“No savage man inquired ‘What am myself?’
“Much less replied, ‘First, last, and best of things.’
“Man takes that title now if he believes
“Might can exist with neither will nor love,
“In God’s case—what he names now Nature’s Law—
“While in himself he recognizes love
“No less than might and will: and rightly takes.
“Since if man prove the sole existent thing
“Where these combine, whatever their degree,
“However weak the might or will or love,
“So they be found there, put in evidence,—
“He is as surely higher in the scale
“Than any might with neither love nor will,
“As life, apparent in the poorest midge,
“(When the faint dust-speck flits, ye guess its wing)
“Is marvellous beyond dead Atlas’ self—
“Given to the nobler midge for resting-place!
“Thus, man proves best and highest—God, in fine,
“And thus the victory leads but to defeat,
“The gain to loss, best rise to the worst fall,
“His life becomes impossible, which is death.

“But if, appealing thence, he cower, avouch
“He is mere man, and in humility
“Neither may know God nor mistake himself;
“I point to the immediate consequence
“And say, by such confession straight he falls
“Into man’s place, a thing nor God nor beast,
“Made to know that he can know and not more:
“Lower than God who knows all and can all,
“Higher than beasts which know and can so far
“As each beast’s limit, perfect to an end,
“Nor conscious that they know, nor craving more;
“While man knows partly but conceives beside,
“Creeps ever on from fancies to the fact,
“And in this striving, this converting air
“Into a solid he may grasp and use,
“Finds progress, man’s distinctive mark alone,
“Not God’s, and not the beasts’: God is, they are,
“Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.
“Such progress could no more attend his soul
“Were all it struggles after found at first
“And guesses changed to knowledge absolute,
“Than motion wait his body, were all else
“Than it the solid earth on every side,
“Where now through space he moves from rest to rest.
“Man, therefore, thus conditioned, must expect
“He could not, what he knows now, know at first;
“What he considers that he knows to-day,
“Come but to-morrow, he will find misknown;
“Getting increase of knowledge, since he learns
“Because he lives, which is to be a man,
“Set to instruct himself by his past self:
“First, like the brute, obliged by facts to learn,
“Next, as man may, obliged by his own mind,
“Bent, habit, nature, knowledge turned to law.
“God’s gift was that man should conceive of truth
“And yearn to gain it, catching at mistake,
“As midway help till he reach fact indeed.
“The statuary ere he mould a shape
“Boasts a like gift, the shape’s idea, and next
“The aspiration to produce the same;
“So, taking clay, he calls his shape thereout,
“Cries ever ‘Now I have the thing I see’:
“Yet all the while goes changing what was wrought,
“From falsehood like the truth, to truth itself.
“How were it had he cried ‘I see no face,
“‘No breast, no feet i’ the ineffectual clay’?
“Rather commend him that he clapped his hands,
“And laughed ‘It is my shape and lives again!’
“EnJoyed the falsehood, touched it on to truth,
“Until yourselves applaud the flesh indeed
“In what is still flesh-imitating clay.
“Right in you, right in him, such way be man’s!
“God only makes the live shape at a jet.
“Will ye renounce this pact of creatureship?
“The pattern on the Mount subsists no more,
“Seemed awhile, then returned to nothingness;
“But copies, Moses strove to make thereby,
“Serve still and are replaced as time requires:
“By these, make newest vessels, reach the type!
“If ye demur, this judgment on your head,
“Never to reach the ultimate, angel’s law,
“Indulging every instinct of the soul
“There where law, life, joy, impulse are one thing!

“Such is the burthen of the latest time.
“I have survived to hear it with my ears,
“Answer it with my lips: does this suffice?
“For if there be a further woe than such,
“Wherein my brothers struggling need a hand,
“So long as any pulse is left in mine,
“May I be absent even longer yet,
“Plucking the blind ones back from the abyss,
“Though I should tarry a new hundred years!”

But he was dead; ’twas about noon, the day
Somewhat declining: we five buried him
That eve, and then, dividing, went five ways,
And I, disguised, returned to Ephesus.

By this, the cave’s mouth must be filled with sand.
Valens is lost, I know not of his trace;
The Bactrian was but a wild childish man,
And could not write nor speak, but only loved:
So, lest the memory of this go quite,
Seeing that I to-morrow fight the beasts,
I tell the same to Phœbas, whom believe!
For many look again to find that face,
Beloved John’s to whom I ministered,
Somewhere in life about the world; they err:
Either mistaking what was darkly spoke
At ending of his book, as he relates,
Or misconceiving somewhat of this speech
Scattered from mouth to mouth, as I suppose.
Believe ye will not see him any more
About the world with his divine regard!
For all was as I say, and now the man
Lies as he lay once, breast to breast with God.

[Cerinthus read and mused; one added this:

“If Christ, as thou affirmest, be of men
“Mere man, the first and best but nothing more,—
“Account Him, for reward of what He was,
“Now and for ever, wretchedest of all.
“For see; Himself conceived of life as love,
“Conceived of love as what must enter in,
“Fill up, make one with His each soul He loved:
“Thus much for man’s joy, all men’s joy for Him.
“Well, He is gone, thou sayest, to fit reward.
“But by this time are many souls set free,
“And very many still retained alive:
“Nay, should His coming be delayed awhile,
“Say, ten years longer (twelve years, some compute)
“See if, for every finger of thy hands,
“There be not found, that day the world shall end,
“Hundreds of souls, each holding by Christ’s word
“That He will grow incorporate with all,
“With me as Pamphylax, with him as John,
“Groom for each bride! Can a mere man do this?
“Yet Christ saith, this He lived and died to do.
“Call Christ, then, the illimitable God,
“Or lost!”

But ’twas Cerinthus that is lost.]

Sydney Diocese, the ACL and the interaction of party ideology on personal ideology

2011-10-11T10:58:00.000+11:00

Over at Gold, Silver, Precious Stones, Andrew Katay has been questioning whether the political dominance of the ACL really serves its stated goal of 'protecting the Evangelical, Reformed and Protestant character of Sydney diocese', or whether it is in fact pursuing a slightly different mission.

You can look at the to-and-fro of arguments in the comments on his blog, but I'd like to discuss why I think this is important.

The importance lies in the way party ideology affects individual ideology, especially in dominant party systems.

Jing Jing Huo, in 2005, did a study of how party ideology interacts with individual ideology in 18 industrialized nations

(Party Dominance in 18 Countries: The Role

of Party Dominance in the Transmission

of Political Ideology , Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique

38:3 (September/septembre 2005) 745–765

Here is what he concluded from this study,

To sum up the discussion, whether it is the electoral or governmental dimension of party dominance, data from the 18 highly industrialized

democracies ultimately support the following core theories:

1) If individuals already find the dominant party in the party system ideologically congruent, the party’s dominance enhances its ability to transmit party ideology to individuals. For these individuals, the more politically aware they become, the more effective the dominant party becomes in transmitting its ideology, so the effectiveness of party political persuasion increases monotonically with increasing levels of political awareness.

2) If individuals find the dominant party ideologically incongruent, the party’s dominance inhibits its ability to transmit party ideology to individuals. For these individuals, as their political awareness increases, the effect of the dominant party’s ideology first increases, then decreases, resulting in a curvilinear pattern.

The key here is 'congruence' . If you agree with the ideology of the party, the more politically aware you become, the more you will internalise the party ideology. On the other hand, if you find the ideology incongruent, the more dominant the party becomes, the more you will be pushed away from its ideology, given a certain amount of political awareness (since you are bombarded with more evidence of its incongruity)

Now, what might this mean for the ACL and politics in the Sydney Anglican Diocese.

If the ACL is simply about making sure that evangelicals are elected into Diocesan positions, then evangelicals will find that ideology congruent, the more politically aware they become, the more they will support the election of evangelicals to Diocesan positions.

However, if the ACL is not simply ensuring the election of evangelicals, but has a different ideology, whether it be positions for mates, or a more narrow vision of the health of the diocese, those who find this ideology incongruent will at first be influenced by the ACL, but as the ACL becomes more dominant, and the the people become more politically aware, the ability of the ACL to influence their personal ideology actually shifts into reverse gear, they are repulsed by that ideology. On a simple level, all it takes is for an evangelical to know another solid evangelical who has been slighted by the party system.

But there are two larger problems.

Jing Jing Huo, using the work of Zaller, notes three forms of resistance in the individual

These three scenarios are:

partisan resistance, in which individuals refuse to internalize a political message if they are provided with information cues helping them to recognize that this message comes from an incongruent political party;

inertial resistance, in which individuals who already possess a large amount of existing schemas use such schemas to wash out any incongruent message they happen to already internalize;

countervalent resistance, in which individuals internalize schemas directly opposing those coming from the incongruent parties.

The danger for the ACL is that there are a lack of evangelical options, so resistance strategy 1 doesn't happen.

Which leaves us with strategy two or three. People who already have a strong schema of their evangelical identity that is unconnected to the ACL (and it's members, which, I might add, includes a large chunk of the clergy) are able to wash out the political (rather than evangelical) ideology of the ACL, though this leaves them politically inert.

Others however, will internalize schemas that directly oppose the dominant party.

Now, if the party itself has mixed its ideology, that is, (if it has said it is only about protecting the evangelical character of the diocese, but also includes another ideology, about jobs for friends or a narrower vision), the potential for someone to take up non-evangelical ideology as a reaction to the party's other ideology becomes higher and higher the more dominant the ACL becomes.

That is, without the creation of another evangelical option, the ACL's strength will work against its mission (protect the reformed, evangelical, protestant (REP) character of the diocese) unless it is solely focussed on that mission.

That gives the ACL, if it truly wants to pursue that mission, two options.

Move away from the other ideologies

Admit that it isn't simply about protecting the REP character of the diocese (which would involve changing both its formal and informal rhetoric about being the 'evangelical' party)

The countervalent response is probably the scariest for individuals. That individuals are repulsed from evangelicalism because of particular party politics.

But the political inertia is a greater issue for the diocese, as many gifted and godly people simply opt out of involvement, confident of their evangelical faith, but unable to swallow the 'jobs for friends' structure for participation.

Of course, if another evangelical organisation was created and was sufficiently strong to create a genuine second option, we wouldn't have such a huge problem

Avoid favouritism: some practical reflections

2011-10-08T17:16:00.000+11:00

Rest secure in the status that God has given you. If you are a believer in Jesus, God has chosen you to inherit the kingdom, you don’t need anyone else's approval.

Unfortunately, in churches, when there is a disagreement over the style of service, or how ministries will be run, it is generally those with money who win. There can be a sense of
( well, they are the ones who are putting the money in the plate, so we can’t offend them). This can happen even if you don’t mean it. So if you have a bit of money, be careful how you present your preferences. Remind your ministers and your parish councils that you want them to do what is in line with the gospel and best for everyone, not just what will be best for you.

When we are at church, talk about what we have in common, Jesus. If a poor believer walks into our meeting and goes to have morning tea, and finds one conversation about golf, another about which Pacific island is the best for holidays, another about what is the wisest investment choice, will he feel welcome? Probably not. What we all share is Jesus Christ and the work he is doing in our lives, make an effort to talk about that.

Avoid favouritism: Who you become

2011-10-07T17:14:00.001+11:00

We are to avoid favouritism because of what it makes us
James says, if you show favouritism you sin v9, you are lawbreakers, like a corrupt judge v4, you are unmerciful and will be judged (by Jesus the true Judge) without mercy.
Look at verse 8 “ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture “ Love your neighbour as yourself’ you are doing right”. James points us to the Law found in scripture, in Leveticus 19, “Love your neighbour as yourself”, but more than that, he calls it ‘the Royal law’. This is the Law that Jesus, the king of God’s kingdom, has set down for his followers, that we might be people who have mercy on others, as he has had mercy on us.
Many of you might be uneasy with the term ‘law’ here, because of some of what Paul says about no longer being under the Jewish law. But even Paul says 1 Corinthians 9:21 “ I am under the law of Christ”. We kid ourselves if we think God doesn’t care how we live. Jesus really does have a pattern of life that he wants us to live out, and it is summed up in the command, “ Love your neigbour as yourself”. Now, if in the old Covenant, breaking one law made you a transgressor of the whole lot, what makes us think that as Christians we can ignore the one command Jesus gave us “Love one another” and he will be cool with that. God expects us to reflect his mercy to others.

Avoid favouritism: Who the rich are

2011-10-06T17:09:00.000+11:00

James says, why are you sucking up to the rich? Aren’t they the very people who are oppressing you, dragging you into court and blaspheming the noble name of the one you belong to?
Why do we expend so much effort trying to be like the successful in society around us, trying to gain their approval, when they have strayed so far from the truth of the Gospel?
While we may not be under the same oppression as the first readers of James, we are often under the same thrall to the lifestyle of the rich. Yet their constant pursual of their desires is leading them to death. Aren't the rich the parasites who feed off the lie that we are primarily consumers? Yet we know that we are reborn as a firstfruits sacrifice, why on earth would we want to be like them? Or even desire their approval?
They are the ones who fortify their wealth with violence, they are the ones destroying the earth, who will be brought to destruction. Why suck up to them?

Avoid favouritism: Who the poor are

2011-10-04T17:03:00.000+11:00

We should avoid favouritism because of who the poor are. We shouldn’t show prejudice because it mocks God’s choice.
Proverbs 14:31 says “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker”, but in James it is even worse. James says if you dishonour the poor, you are ignoring the status that God has decided to give them. Look at verse 5. “Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” The reference here is clearly to poor believers. James reminds the small messianic communities of where their status come from. It doesn’t come from the eyes the rich or the powerful. They don’t need to feel insecure. Their status comes from God, who has chosen them to inherit his kingdom. Who are we to mock his choice of the poor?
Dishonouring the poor and sucking up to the rich also ignores God’s gospel strategy. Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 1:26 “ Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things, the despised things- the things that are not to shame the things that are, that no-one may boast before him.”
Do you see God’s strategy? In his choice of those without status, God shows those with status that status counts for nothing in God’s sight. It’s only when the rich and powerful realize this that they can abandon the arrogance and vested interest that prevent them from having right relationship with God and with other people. (stolen from Bauckhams 'Bible and Mission')
Is that our strategy? Is that the kind of thing we mean when we say we need to 'think startegically' about ministry? Reach the weak and foolish to shame the strong? Over the course of 2000yrs, the church has often been tempted with a different strategy, reach the powerful and wise of this world in order to be strong.
So we have had this strategy of reaching University students because they are wealthy and bright, in the hope that they will be the leaders of our churches and the good stuff will trickle down into the rest of church and society. It hasn’t worked, instead we have churches that are very attractive and good for university educated, middle class people, and not much good at reaching everyone else.
But more disturbing than the fact it hasn’t worked, is the fact that it is exactly the opposite of Gods strategy here in James and in 1 Corinthians. Setting up your church for the wealthy mocks God’s choice and his strategy.

nb. University ministry is a good, good thing. And necessary. But it needs to keep a check on its language about its own strategic value, to make sure it is chastened by the Gospel.

Avoid favouritism: Who Jesus is

2011-10-03T16:59:00.000+11:00

We cannot have favouritism because we are believers in the glorious Lord Jesus Christ. The one who we trust in, Jesus, the one who God has glorified, the one God said ‘Yes’ to when he raised him from the dead, the king of Gods kingdom, the glorious one, Jesus, was a person with dubious parentage, was born amongst beasts. was a refugee as a toddler, an illegal immigrant. He spent his childhood with peasants and when he grew up he hung out with criminals and lowlifes and hookers. He was unemployed and homeless until finally he was executed as a blasphemer, traitor and terrorist.
If you are looking for a nice religion of respectability, of fitting in, of moving up the social ladder, then perhaps Christianity isn’t for you.
At our evening service, when we do communion, I choose the two scruffiest looking guys to hand out the bread and the wine. I choose the guys with broken shoes, or no shoes, with flannies and heavy metal shirts and poorly shaven beards. It is deliberate, because if you wont receive the Lords Supper from these two, you wont receive it from a crucified Lord.

James and favouritism

2011-10-02T16:51:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago we had a visit from a representative of Anglicare. We were talking about different ways we could use our new building to serve our community, especially the poorer and marginalized members of our community. And as we did, he gave us a warning.
He said, make sure the church is on-board, and knows what they are getting into.
He told us about other churches who loved the idea of helping people out, until there were people on their church site who dressed differently, who spoke differently, who had different manners, who smelt a bit different, who were around when the playgroup was on, and then the complaints started rolling in. Then the terrible shock, when those people started coming to church and didn't fit our small group or training structure, who needed different sermons, who couldn't read.
He told us about churches who loved the idea of helping the poor, until those people started coming into the services, and changes had to be made.
Would we be like those churches?
It was sobering
James gives us four reasons to avoid favouritism in James 2. We'll look at those over the next couple of days

Two visions of God's agency in evil

2011-09-29T18:20:00.000+10:00

http://youtu.be/wdFP-R_LYSM

http://youtu.be/MalI80HUZ9w

"And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet"

God is testing Me?

2011-09-28T22:48:00.000+10:00

I have a hunch that in 1 Corinthians 10:13, where Paul talks about God providing a way out of 'testing/temptation', he may be echoing the provision of the ram in Genesis 22. Anyone bumped into this before?

I've been puzzling as to why James uses Gen 22 a his example of 'justification by deeds", and wondering how his "No one should say 'God is testing me' ", fits with his use of Abraham later on.

Of course all of this came from getting a little annoyed at sermons and Bible studies that present God as determining and doing evil 'to build our character'.

I'm trying to find places in the NT where God is the agent of 'testing'. They are very slim. He is always around, strengthening, encouraging etc. Very few agencies.
None with peirazmos, though God is presented as the agent of rescue from peirazmos and has victory over peirazmos.
John 6:6 is a candidate for Jesus 'testing', but it is hardly providing calamity to produce character, it is simply Jesus seeing what Phillip will do.
1 Corinthians 10, God is the restricter of perazw, but hardly its agent.
In fact, God is never directly the agent of peirazw in the NT.
The closest is in Hebrews 11:17, which the reference to Abraham, but even there, it is not directly said that the testing is from God. (And the story of Genesis 22 is rather ambiguous in itself as to whether God would ordain evil, when the narrative is taken as a whole)

So given that is the case, it seems rather careless, when faced with James 1:13, to outright say, "God tests us". Surely, even if we wanted to translate the verse as tempt, it would be reckless to say the exact opposite of the verse. Yet this is what a lot of popular Bible Study says. God tests us in order to prove our mettle.

I think this comes from a wrong understanding of God's sovereignty, which tries to comfort us in the face of evil by saying God planned it all, instead of saying God has a plan to destroy evil in his Son Jesus. It comes from Calvin's commentary on James, but ends up with a much mushier Calvinism. It ends up with 'God has a plan for your life' which rather ignores the Messiah and the sharing of Messianic woes, but instead focuses on a quasi-psychological character building.

I know the whole issue of whether God ordains evil is vexed, but I think flatly saying his agency is the same in evil as good is wrong, and mistakes infinity for totality.
Just some thoughts

On writing stupid and inflammatory posts

2011-09-28T12:49:00.000+10:00

It is something I do every now and then, usually late at night when annoyed about something.
I need to learn to use that schedule button and put them off for a week or two then come back.
Thanks Mike Doyle for the correction, though I still have concerns about T&V, the post was dumb and is removed

cf. the title of this blog

W H Vanstone on the necessity of God's love and Kenosis

2011-09-28T11:43:00.000+10:00

‘Trinitarian theology asserts that God’s love for his creation is not the love that is born of ‘emptiness’ … It is the love which overflows from fullness. Its analogue is the love of a family who, united in mutual love, take an orphan into the home. They do so not out of need but in the pure spontaneity of their own triumphant love. Nevertheless, in the weeks that follow, the family, once complete in itself, comes to need the newcomer. Without him the circle is now incomplete; his absence now causes anxiety: his waywardness brings concern; his goodness and happiness are necessary to those who have come to love him; upon his response depends the triumph or the tragedy of the family’s love … Love has surrendered its triumphant self-sufficiency and created its own need. This is the supreme illustration of love’s self-giving or self-emptying – that it should surrender its fullness and create in itself the emptiness of need. Of such a nature is the Kenosis of God – the self-emptying of Him Who is already in every way fulfilled’. – William Hubert Vanstone, Love’s Endeavour, Love’s Expense: The Response of Being to the Love of God (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1977)

H/T Jason

Boersma on Penance

2011-09-28T00:12:00.000+10:00

I just read a great passage from ''Violence, Hospitality and the Cross' by Hans Boersma. The book is the hottest thing since..ever. I reckon it would be a cracker to book club, since it is written by a Calvinist expert on Calvinism who is able to critique well the crazyness of some Calvinism. Anyways, in one provocative section he wonders whether there is some place for 'penance' in the church and quotes this lady
"Just for a lark, imagine going to your pastor and confessing your rampart materialism, your devotion to things instead of people, and your isolation from the poor whom Jesus loved. Then imagine being forgiven and given your penance: to select five of your favourite things- including perhaps your Bose radio..- and to match them up with five people you know would turn cartwheels to have them. Then on Saturday, put your lawn mower in your trunk, drive down to that transitional neighborhood where all the old people live and offer to mow lawns for free until dark. Discerning sinners will note that none of this is standard punishment. It is penance, which is not for the purpose of inflicting pain but for the much higher purpose of changing lives by restoring relationships" Barbara Brown Taylor Speaking of Sin: the lost language of salvation 93-94.

says Boersma
"Confession and penance are not an unjust violent imposition on the conscience of the individual. Instead, they constitute one of the ways in which the Church safeguards and protects its character as a hospitible community"

As a way of saying to people, "I would like to announce God's forgiveness of sin and help you to be more godly', i reckon this idea sounds pretty good.

Why it is worth learning Hebrew

2011-09-23T16:10:00.000+10:00

A friend who was converted in a Pentecostal church was telling me the other day about his unease with speaking in tongues in the service he went to.
He said though it felt like a real experience to him, the whole 'everybody do it at once' thing was clearly against the scripture (1 Cor 14) and he wondered whether the whole thing was a sham.
Anyways, he tells me, he only ever really said one word over and over, and didn't know what it meant. Offhand he tells me the word.
"It was like shovtah or shavtah".
"Hmm, sounds Hebrew. Could be the feminine imperative "Cease!, or the masculine perfect 'return (repent)'

HaHaHa.
we both laughed heartily

Scot McKinight and a truncated gospel

2011-09-22T15:20:00.000+10:00

I started blogging a couple of years ago, gently encouraged by a friend who posted an email rant had sent him.

The subject of that rant was the atrophied, narrow gospel I was hearing in various gospel presentations, that basically focussed on the idea of Jesus death as an exchange, securing forgiveness, so you don't have to feel bad about yourself anymore.

Honestly I'd been giving those kind of gospel talks too, but was increasingly disturbed that they left out huge chunks of God's word to us, and huge chunks of the story of Jesus.
I knew there was more, yet it seemed like we hid all this good stuff from unbeleivers, under the strange idea that someone dying for their sins was easy to understand, but someone rising from the dead and reigning as Lord was not.

Well, Scot McKnight, Ne Testament scholar and blogger heavyweight has come out with a new book, which sounds like a similar rant against particular practices in American Evangelicalism.
"The King Jesus Gospel: the original good news revisited".
I hope it gets wide reading, and more than that, I hope it translates into fresh, rich, thoughtful, powerful evangelism, that takes the potency of the full story and proclaims it to the world

Principles for preaching- don't collapse your role with your goal

2011-09-20T17:12:00.000+10:00

Ministers have a tendency to conflate their role with the life of the church.

In my neck of the woods, this tends to focus around teaching. The chief (even sole) goal of the church is to teach. You teach so that others can be teachers who teach others to teach. The role of the teacher is inflated so that it consumes the whole church. Other activities are seen as sidelines, distractions even, from the proclamation of the gospel. I think this comes from a good love of the gospel, but also a place of deep insecurity about leaders roles as teachers, so they feel the need to defend it.

The reaction is for the minister to have a finger in every pie. He has to be the carer, the evangelist, the meeting chair, the teacher, the visionary, the one meeting the neighbours, the cleaner, the trainer, the advocate for social justice, the advocate for everything else, the social service etc.
I think this come from a good recognition that the life of the church is more than teaching and being taught, but involves an expression and living out of faith. The rather obvious downside is 1. burnout and 2. vapid teaching. (there just isn't enough time to bother writing a good sermon)

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Teachers, teach! That is your job! But your goal is not to reproduce yourself, but prepare the people for works of service.
If you teach that all there is is teaching, you are teaching rubbish!
You are not the whole church, but just one part of it. Relax.

Principles for preaching- Give the tip of the iceberg

2011-09-19T09:59:00.000+10:00

A sermon should be only a small part of what the preacher knows and understands from a passage.

You should do enough work on the passage that you could do three or four different messages. Then you select the one that you think is most helpful to the people you are speaking to.

There are two ways to avoid this principle.

The first is to do loads of work on the passage, and then try to cram it all into one message, along with every connection in Biblical theology, every application, every illustration. The result is a mess, full of truths, but usually incomprehensible (and boring)

The second, more subtle, way to avoid this principle, is to not do very much work on the passage. To be attentive to it only until you think you have an idea that you can string out for 20 or so minutes. You can say everything because you simply don't have much to say.

Your sermons will be much better if you give only the tip of the iceberg. People will notice.
Of course, the downside is that the first group of preachers might mistake you for the shallow second group. And the second group will wonder why you take so long with sermon preparation.
You will also feel a bit crap after each sermon.
But your congregation wont

A call for Subtitles to books of the Bible that encourage their use as argumentative weapons.

2011-09-15T15:58:00.000+10:00

I'm writing a sermon on James 1.
As part of the section on James 1:19-21, I wanted to comment that having the truth implanted in us isn't about being angry with people who disagree with us, but about ridding ourselves of moral filth and evil.

I want to have a go at people who approach the Bible as (primarily) a weapon against others.
So I'm looking for some humorous subtitles for books of the Bible along that line.

So far I have
Romans: why the Catholics are wrong
Hebrews: 13 Reasons Jehovahs witnesses are stupid
and then an ironic
James: take that intellectual fundamentalists

Got any better ones?

Church without us- an idea

2011-09-12T14:54:00.000+10:00

Jesus is pretty clear that there are no 'lone' christians.
If you follow him, you will love his people.

Yet the practice of churchgoing has declined over the last 40 years.
People have forgotten how to go to church.
And sometimes, people at church have forgotten to be a community of love.
A large chasm has opened up between those who know how to enjoy the rich feast provided at a church service, and those who still have some form of belief, but simply don't know how to enjoy church.
The church's response has often been to label those who don't attend as 'unbelievers' or 'nominal' or other derogatory terms, thus making it even harder for people to belong to a church.

In Sydney, we have an ecclessiology that in theory says "If two or more are gathered around the Word, there is a church". Some people want to tweak that to include some form of commitment to each other over time.

Yet our efforts with 'non-attending believers' has usually said 'you must join an established (our) group of two or more'. For various reasons, people have been unable or unwilling to join these established gatherings.

I have an idea.

What if we said to the community, "We are more interested in you exploring Jesus and loving each other than getting your bum sitting on our pews".

What if we offered a service that linked up believing and interested 'non attenders' with each other? What if we offered them some resources to initiate discussions about Jesus and life from the gospels, said "We are available if you have questions or want help" and then got out of the way.

Sure, some groups might go in wacky directions. Sure, it would require a leadership of influence and wisdom instead of authority and control. Sure, we wouldn't see any financial benefit (at least, not for a long time). Sure, it seems like choosing death for our churches.

But maybe, just maybe, God would work through his word and the kingdom would grow in ways we can't even imagine. Maybe, when people have grown to love Jesus and community they will be looking for more ways to deepen that, and if they respected us and wanted our help, well, then we can offer the kind of meat that we enjoy.

We would have to stop judging peoples godliness by their level of participation in our programs though.

Just a thought.

Did Paul Fail?

2011-09-12T11:52:00.000+10:00

'I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.' 1 Cor 4:14

Does writing a letter that contained significant failures of the Corinthian church, a letter that would become scripture for 2000 years, faults that serve as examples for us even today...

...does that shame the Corinthians?

Immersion courses in Biblical Languages

2011-09-10T01:29:00.000+10:00

Last year I bought Hans H. Orberg's "Lingua Latina: Famila Romana". It is basically a graded childrens book in Latin. The idea being that you learn the language (and grammar) as you go.

To be honest, I haven't pursued it as diligently as I should, but what I did read was surprisingly fun and easy to pick up.

I've heard rumblings of a similar approach in Biblical Languages, but never found the materials.

And then today I found the Biblical Language Centre

They provide immersion courses that are designed for High Schoolers and up, that aim to have you reading fluently and thinking in Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew.
As an extra bonus, the greek audio is in reconstructed Koine instead of ridiculous Erasmian pronunciation.

Gold. Gold. Gold.

Have a listen to the sample of 1 John and imagine knowing Greek well enough to hear and understand.

Now to save up some coin.....

Probably want to check out Daniel Streett too.
ooo, and this site, where you can converse in 'ancient greek'

or these guys, 'Polis' who are offering a Masters in Ancient Languages from 2013. It looks very good, tempted.very.much

Divorce and Marriage

2011-09-09T23:38:00.000+10:00

Brian Doyle on the threat of divorce as the glue of marriage
An interesting reflection on failure

There's plenty more fish in the sea

2011-09-08T13:38:00.000+10:00

In terrible news for dumped lovers everywhere,
it seems there are not "plenty more fish in the sea".
Perhaps it could be replaced with "Don't worry about losing her, soon her whole species will collapse and dissappear"

I put the statistic of commercial fish stocks collapsing by 2050 to a bunch of year 10 kids a couple of weeks ago. Their response shocked me. "I'm going to eat all the fish I can in the next few years then"

I had orange roughie for the first time a few weeks back. I never knew that they could be 150 years old.

H/T Byron, as always, for raising our attention

Habukkuk, justice and barbarians

2011-09-03T23:19:00.000+10:00

When I lament the various injustice involved in a western way of life, there is one response I often bump into. "Well, at least we aren't ruled by the Chinese/Muslims". It is seen as deeply treacherous to criticize our own evil, as it might imply it would be good to be taken over by a different culture.
Now, I don't know whether it would be better or worse, probably worse, who knows?
But it makes me think of the small book of Habakkuk.
The prophet Habbakkuk has a whinge to God about the injustice and violence he sees around him. How can God tolerate such evil? Why doesn't he do something about it?
And God answers, though his answer is bizarre.
God says, sure, I'll do something about it, I will send guilty and violent men who worship their own power who will sweep the land, the Babylonians. A nation that swallows up others, who worships the instrument by which they devours others to gain luxury. Who gets rich off complex financial schemes and debt sharking, who builds cities on bloodshed, who tries to escape ruin by ruining others, who plies other nations with pleasure, but only to pleasure themselves.
Err... what.
How is that an answer? Things are obviously worse under the Babylonians
Habakkuk makes a similar response.
Um, but. um, you are the God who can't tolerate evil. What is the deal?
Well, says God, get ready, say to that bunch of guilty people that I sent, "Now it is your turn, now you will drink from the cup of God's right hand"
God doesn't really elaborate on what he is going to do to Babylon, but needless to say, it doesn't sound good.
"You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot"
Even when the land is completely stripped, overrun, overcome, Habakkuk rejoices in God, because God is his strength.

Why fear being taken over by the barbarians?
Why not instead fear the judgement of God?
In fact, being attacked by the barbarians might just be what averts the judgement of God onto them.
Or perhaps, just perhaps, we are the barbarians. "For you have shed man's blood, you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them"

*nb. I take Mark Seifrid's claim that Habakkuk isn't really about the Babylonians, but rather about the prophets distress about the inability of the law to produce merit with about as much seriousness as I take Seifrids claim that when Paul quotes Habukkuk 2:4, Paul uses the words 'righteous' 'faithfulness' and 'live' in ways completely different to the MT, LXX, Targum and all Jewish tradition. See pp 609-610 of the 'Commentary on NT use of OT' for all sorts of silliness. Paul, of course, couldn't mean what he said ,since that doesn't fit with Seifrids theological grid. And so I guess, neither could Habakkuk

A note on glory

2011-08-30T13:51:00.000+10:00

Nobody ever 'gives' glory to God in the Bible, as though glory were an object that people possessed but could hand over to God.
Every case of people 'glorifying God' is a case of people recognising the glory God has and has shown.
They recognize his glory because he does cool, loving, justice bearing redemptive acts.
God's 'glory' is not the praise of his people, rather, the people praise his glory.
Neither does God 'pursue' his glory. HE IS HIS GLORY! Indeed, in the OT, glory is closely ties to YHWH's presence. (fire, cloud, giant shiny eye covered wheels etc..)
Go read the book of Numbers for the easiest way to make the glory of God appear: whinge! But it might be to your downfall.
God, however, can give glory, he can share himself around. He can invite mere humans into his divine life. Aaron and the priests are given garments of glory so that they serve in the temple.

We have to carefully distinguish between the noun 'glory' and the verb 'glorify'. Except when God does it, the verb does not produce the noun. The noun calls forth the verb.

To have the glory of God manifest in our own lives is to
1. Be recepients of his cool, loving, justice bearing, redemptive deeds
2. To praise him for those cool redemptive, justice bearing deeds
3. To live in a way consistent with a God who acts in cool, loving, redemptive, justice bearing ways

Even to say that we are 'formed for God's glory' needs to be read in context, where it describes the people of Jacob who are the object of God's cool, loving, justice bearing, redemptive acts.

So, there is a similarity between the verbs 'glorify' and 'praise', but the noun 'glory' is a different thing.

Is theology possible?

2011-08-29T16:47:00.000+10:00

'Does not the word "theo-logy" entail the deepest possible contradiction, does not this term signify an "utterance of the unutterable and inconceivable"? Yet man is not just a perceiver and an actor, he is also a thinker, speaker and formulator. What, then, is the value of the quasi-scientia that he develops under the name of "theology" and in which he obviously attempts to translate God's logic into his own?..... Theology, to answer our question, is possible, but it will primarily be, not a human achievement, but an acheivement of the divine Father, who is able truly to exposit himself and make himself understood in his incarnate Word, albeit only to those whom he equips for understanding this exposition by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And in all this something curious happens: the God who truly and unreservedly ex-posits himself does not therefore cease to be a mystery'
Hans urs Von Balthasar Theo-logic: Theological Logical Theory Vol 1, Truth of the World., Sanfrancisco: Ignatius, 200, pp22

Belief when a 2yr old dies...

2011-08-25T18:28:00.000+10:00

We buried a two year old today at church. Do you tell people he's in heaven?

As I was thinking this through I realised that Jesus demanded all people to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Maybe my problem is that I have an inflated opinion of the mature adult ability to confess Jesus and enter the kingdom of heaven. So instead of wondering if children are saved, I began to wonder where I got my thought that I could earn heaven be rational thoughts rather than grace.

If infants cannot be saved, neither am I.
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Truth without good and beauty is banal.

2011-08-24T17:32:00.000+10:00

"there can be no satisfactory resolution of the theological problem of faith and reason unless we recognise and describe the unity of theory and ethics, of evidence and decision, that is the philosophical origin of the problem... Modern rationalism, attemptingto narrowthe range of truth to the supposedly isolable ore of pure theory, has exiled the good and the beautiful from the domain of the rationably verifiable, relegating them to arbitrary subjectivity or to a world of private belief and personal taste.

"If truth lacks decision, then decision, the personal decision that determines one's view of the world, lacks truth"
Von Balthasar, Theo-Logic, Vol 1: The truth of the World, 2000, San Francisco: Ignatius, pp (cant find the book now, get back to you)

So, hows that workin out for ya?

2011-08-24T07:24:00.000+10:00

One of the things I appreciate in Phillip Jensen's preaching is his tenacity in challenging the smug idea that ignoring God 'works' better than obeying God. Phillip is always finding new research that shows the downsides of ignoring the scriptures, individually and socially.

Last week I was preaching on Haggai 2, where Haggai (and YHWH) call for close attention to how obedience and disobedience 'worked out' for the people.
Now, while we are no longer under the covenant of Deuteronomy, and can't 'read' disaster and hardship the way it could be in the Old Covenant, ie as a sign of God's displeasure. (indeed, since we follow a Messiah who suffered outside the camp, perhaps we should be reading a lack of hardship as a sign of our disobedience). Still, there is a place for asking those who ignore God
' How's that working out for you?' . To give people the opportunity to stop and think.
Evangelism Explosion, with its new XEE, has a similar question 'on a scale of 1-10, how fullfilled would you say your life is right now? Would having God in your life make that number lower or higher?

In another tip of the hat to Dean Jensen, I wanted to centre my sermon around one word in the Hebrew, (roughly 'how was it for you'), but found the NIV didn't really translate that word at all. (to be fair there are some textual issues with the vowels, but 'how was it for you' is what BHS goes with). Sitting in Bible Study, one of the gents read out the passage, with the phrase I wanted. I jerked forward in my seat " ooo what translation was THAT, I like it". It was the ESV.
I still did the sermon the way I wanted to, just without the word to back me up.

Be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They need something to threaten you with to rob you and others

2011-08-21T10:11:00.000+10:00

Speaking of the BP oil spill

"What do you get when you cross a long drug habit, a quick temper and a gun? The answer is two life terms for murder, earliest release date 2026. On the other hand, what do you get when you cross two nation states, a large corporation, three tons of poison and 8,000 dead human beings? The answer is, retirement with full pay and benefits."

Romans 13:4
⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

At what point does a structure of power stop being an authority and start being a gangster?

Possibly heretical Speculations on Hell

2011-08-19T11:09:00.000+10:00

Hell is the grace and horror of a constantly thwarted suicide.

It is the hatred of the thankless self in the light of the goodness and graciousness of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

In it, the continuing gracious and abundant 'Let there be.." is experienced as limit, as enemy, as a light and fire from which there is no escape. Its goodness merely heightens the shame and hatred of self. Hell is grace unaccepted.

Any thoughts on my speculation? Heresy or no?

A prayer for Haggai 2

2011-08-15T13:57:00.000+10:00

God of the covenant
You are
God of all strength
Lord Almighty, God of armies, king of kings,
You command us to ‘Fear not’, to 'be strong', to 'work'

We say the names, we hear the stories, we remember your earthshaking resurrection,
and we still tremble. We are still afraid. Calm our fears.

We look at our broken world and wonder if there is hope. We look at those in power and assume they will last forever. But you have promised to shake again the heavens and the earth, and so we beg you today

Shake up our world

Shake away all that is evil
Shake the powers that enslave us
Shake away our greed and rampant desire
Shake tyranny to its core
and then build your temple, build your church, build your people.

Strengthen all of us, that we might work as for our Lord Jesus Christ
that we might not be distracted and choked by the pleasures around us
that we might not be disheartened by hardship
but that we might know your presence Lord God,
that your Spirit might dwell in us,
empowering us to love wildly,
to obey freely,
and to work wholeheartedly for your Gospel,
knowing that our work in the Lord is not in vain.

Beware the translator who interprets!!!

2011-08-12T17:14:00.000+10:00

Last week a church leader sent out a warning in a sermon
"Watch out for when Bible translators start interpreting the text for you"
"They want to be bible teachers instead of translators".
"Avoid dynamic equivalence!"

The claim that a bible translator would 'sometimes' be just translating, and 'sometimes' be interpreting is absurd.
All translation always requires interpretation all the time.
A (good) translator will always be paying attention to co-textual and contextual factors in the text's language and in the receptor language, and will ALWAYS make interpretive decisions. As a preacher, you may disagree with some of those interpretive decisions, but you cant escape the interpretive process itself.

I pointed out to the church leader that the language teachers at the theological college I attended generally think his warning is absurd. Hilarious. There is no such thing as 'avoiding dynamic equivalence' or 'accuracy to the greek'.

He responded that he was ' just a preacher, trying to teach his congregations from the greek text, and I don't want to take the bible out of my peoples hands'. I understand his frustration. There is always more going on in a greek text than an English translation can render, there is always more that we would love to pass on. I hate correcting a translation, and generally try to avoid it, teaching what I think is going on, without mauling the text. But underlying his answer seems to be an understanding of translation that is outdated and flawed.
It is the idea that there is a direct, one to one semantic fit between greek words and 21st century english. So, if a gar is in the text, there must be a for in the English. The idea is that translators translate words, not texts. It is a philosophical idea that meaning is essentially bound in words rather than in their combination. It is tied into the fact that most readers of koine greek learn greek from flash cards and lectionaries, and then think that by doing so 'they understand greek', (and also think that their understanding of greek is pure, unmediated by scholarship, when centuries of scholarship lie behind their learning).
The reason language teachers laugh at this idea is because it isn't how language works. You can attempt to have a 'word for word translation', the only thing you will lose is any coherent meaning.
And this is (partially) the solution of those who claim to have a 'word for word' translation. They don't really, what they have is a translation into a third language (the church leader called this 'trans-english'), which nobody speaks or hears, which can then be mediated to people by Bible teachers. You either take the Bible out of peoples hands (since it speaks a different language to them, they are foreigners to it), or you teach your people a different language (trans-english) that makes them foreigners to everyone who isn't sitting under this teacher (only when they talk about God, indeed this church leader later lamented that 'we speak a different language' to the people around us. ). That is, when you read a passage of the Bible that is in trans-English, to those who do not understand it, you are speaking in tongues in the assembly. You are a foreigner to them, and you speak God's judgement (go check out 1 Corinthians 14, humourously, this was the passage the church leader was speaking on!!).
One of the key features of the New Testament writings is that they are not esoteric. They seem to be written to communicate, that is, they seem to be written to be understood. Any so called 'translation' that misses this is in no way accurate to the original text, however 'word for word' it may be.

Stopping a large, hurtling object requires force

2011-08-12T09:54:00.000+10:00

An interesting article on using violence to achieve environmental goals.
I'm particularly interested in this quote, which, like Zizek, argues that Empire is violent anyway.

"I would just add to that, if you live in one of the rich nations, you live behind a military barricade, and the only reason that you don't know that every single thing you buy is based on violence is because of that military barricade. So we can turn away in complete denial to the real cost of every single piece of food we eat and everything we buy — the cell phones, the ipods, the cars, whatever. There are a whole bunch of dead people and dead bioregions behind everything that we buy. And it is that military barricade that keeps us safe and keeps us in a complete land of dreams. But it is all based on violence. All we are saying is that we want to stop the violence. We don't want to make violence.

My friend Gail Dines has a lot of students that work at places like Old Navy and the Gap, and they regularly find, when they're unpacking the jeans and the T-shirts, little notes stuffed into the pockets that say "Please help us." This is from the factory workers in China or Taiwan or wherever."

Is it time to literally smash the idols that enslave us?

"I know that every prediction about global warming is that they underestimate it on the previous one, and I know that those in power are looking with what can only be described as lust at the melting of the Arctic ice caps. They are not looking with horror. They are not looking with shame. They are not looking with sorrow. They are not looking to change things. They are looking with lust at the access to resources. Anyone who thinks that they are going to stop before every living being on this planet has been killed is not paying any attention."

H/T Byron

TV: Infinite crap- John piper and DFW on the uselessness of television

2011-08-10T17:04:00.000+10:00

John Piper on why he doesn't own a TV

David Foster Wallace on Television and stupidity

Dead Flies and Perfume

Lest I seem to be evangelical bashing

No leading the singing for women

No praying from the front for women

No Bible reading for women either

Listening to the voice of women in the church

Principles for preaching- Spend some time with yourself

I Ain't dead

Reasons why Bible readers/teachers should read David Foster Wallace's 'Infinite Jest'

When the day starts, pray

Thoughts on hospital visits

As soon as it is light, pray

The freedom of confession

Diversity and commitment

Pray the day with John Bradford

Bill Maher on "Secret millionaire"

Principles for preaching- words don't (primarily) mean things

Television, death and loneliness

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,In ancient times did'st give the Law,In cloud, and majesty and awe.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.

O Come and make safe

O come, Thou Key of David, come,And open wide our heavenly home;Make safe the way that leads on high,And close the path to misery.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.

Christ is Born

A Child is born in Bethlehem

God is no tourist

God is With Us

O come and cheer

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent hereDisperse the gloomy clouds of nightAnd death's dark shadows put to flight.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.

Taking leave of humility- actually I was right all along

Taize Christmas

In the town of Bethlehem Christ becomes an infant

Advertisers have stolen

Karl Christmas prayer 2

O Come and free

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, freeThine own from Satan's tyrannyFrom depths of Hell Thy people saveAnd give them victory o'er the graveRejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.

We who were in darkness and shadow have found the truth

Jonathans favourite song

Taize Christmas

Karl Barth Christmas prayer

O Come and ransom

O come, O come, EmmanuelAnd ransom captive IsraelThat mourns in lonely exile hereUntil the Son of God appearRejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.

On this day the virgin bears the transcendent

Taize Christmas

Missionary Methods: John's or Ours?

Sex means something

Principles for preaching- don't explain too much

Jesus blood never failed me yet: a new year reflection and prayer

Reflections on Holy Communion 7

Principles for preaching- mix well

Reflection on Holy Communion 6

Reflections on Holy Communion 5

Adam Smith versus Paul

Stealing Eugenio Barba to speak of prayer and action

Reflections on Holy Communion 4

Principles for preaching- get ready to be crucified

The wealthy are not to be envied, or even hated, they are to be pitied

Reflections on Holy Communion 3

Calvin on disobeying authorities and deferral to the judgment of women.

Reflections on Holy Communion 2

Refections on Holy Communion 1

Love your widow/ers, the world keeps turning

Is God imprisoned or active in the church gathering?

Eating poo and christian ministry

Adam Smith and Christian confession

Is God a worshipper?

God carries us, we do not carry him

What Child is this anyway

Is the mission of the church just to talk and make individul disciples, the content of their discipleship being more talking.

A Welcoming Church

A smokin Bible

Robert Browning: A Death in the Desert, a fictional interaction between John and liberalism

Sydney Diocese, the ACL and the interaction of party ideology on personal ideology

Avoid favouritism: some practical reflections

Avoid favouritism: Who you become

Avoid favouritism: Who the rich are

Avoid favouritism: Who the poor are

Avoid favouritism: Who Jesus is

James and favouritism

Two visions of God's agency in evil

God is testing Me?

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.