Step in to the Light!

Just recently I have been a little surprised by some unexpected compliments/showings of respect that I have received and feel totally unable to identify with me. Having said that, receiving them has also been a great encouragement. This didn't remove the puzzlement until I read some biblical passages today which put it all into perspective.

"Have faith in the light while it is with you, and you will be children of the light." John 12

"Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast in the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." Psalm 36

What came to mind immediately, was the fact that it is God who is righteous and holy. Therefore in one sense I am right to find other's praise incongruous. However, the Bible also tell us to to be 'a light to the gentiles'.

The best image of the light Christians are called to be that I could think of was the moon. Sometime the moon is the only light shining in the darkness. Just as the moon doesn't have an light of its own, a light which is self generated; we do not. The moon merely reflects the light of the sun. It struck me that I am in exactly the same position, I am here to reflect the light of the Son of God. If therefore people notice and comment, instead of being uncomfortable or proud; I should rejoice and remember that what is being seen is a reflection of God because he chooses to make me his child.
Awesome!!!

One of my asignments at college is to write an art reflection on a picture which means something to me spiritually. I will then present this to a group as a talk in due course. I have chosen this rather stunning painting by He Qi, entitled Martha and Mary. I think I know what I want to say about it (as this incident in the Bible has meant a lot to me as I have wrestled through the whole egalatarian, women in ministry thing). However, if anyone out there has any nuggets of wisdom or stuff which springs to mind when they look at the painting, please comment...I can probably do with all the insight I can get!

Yay! I won and award for an instant sermon idea from a random picture! Awarded by Rachel over at Re-vis.e Re-form Here it is!



Our lives can seem like a tangled mess but God is always there in the centre of them making sense of it all and working with us despite our failings.
Philippians 2:13
It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Packaging is a big thing today..we are attracted to well packaged merchandise. Retail uses it to attract us to their product. Therefore it is big business. Everything is packaged! Clothes (labels), cosmetics, food etc etc. We even package ourselves! It's a strange and rather shallow concept really, because we are actually buying the product and usually throw away the packaging. I found a quote on the internet which hi-lighted our obsession with it.
“Urban Decay's Big Fatty Mascara - the packaging is so retro. I love it! I have been using Dior’s waterproof mascara for about a year now and I feel like it’s time for me to try a different brand. I was torn between Urban Decay's and Benefit Bad Gal, but I was sold to UD's packaging.”
Is it me, or do we seem to have got our priorities all wrong?
In Biblical times, packaging was less important. What was inside the container was the important thing. Most things were sold/stored in clay jars: Virtually every archaeological dig in the Middle East has unearthed many pieces of pottery. Pottery was a favourite material for making a wide variety of utensils. It was cheap and mouldable. It was used to make everything from pitchers and oil jars to bowls and pots. Utensils were made for a particular purpose. But all made from clay. Paul refers to these clay pots in 2 Corinthians 4. The phrase ‘Jars of clay’ that he uses is actually "earthenware vessels" and refers to a vessel serving a specific purpose (such as a jug, cup, pan or pot). When used of people it often carries the sense of "implement" or "instrument". So to be God's "vessel" is to be his instrument in carrying out a specific service.
Items of value could be kept in clay jars. They were especially popular for storing liquids because the pottery slowed evaporation and kept the contents cool at the same time. Clay pots are mentioned a lot in the Bible either directly or by inference. At the Wedding at Cana in Galilee where Jesus turned water in to wine, empty clay jars were filled with common or garden water and then Jesus miracle occurred. The water became wine. The jars themselves were not important other than to contain the fabulous wine. But without them the miracle could not have happened. Empty they were useless. Filled they became something amazing. Their existance was vital to contain the miracle.
Every person in this world is made by God and is loved by God. But just like an unfilled jar, our lives can often seem empty. To compensate for this emptiness, people try to fill their “jars” with all kinds of different things. Sometimes it is drugs, drink, TV, shopping, big houses, cars, friends, parties, work, money—and the list goes on. Unfortunately, these things are transient. They fill the longing for a time but the happiness and fulfilment soon evaporate.
Nevertheless, there is something, or rather someone, who can fill us. That someone is Jesus! The solution to our difficulties is not to struggle alone with them but to allow Jesus to take control of our lives. As Christians we accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord. That means that we accept what he did for us on the cross in dying for us and taking our sin on himself, but it also means following him, doing his will and putting him first in our lives. Not all difficulties will be removed but we will have divine strength to deal with problems and difficulties as they occur. We are all called to be witnesses to him and to his death for the world. Paul says,
“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus amy also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4 v 10)
Christians are a reminder to the world of Jesus life and death and of the reason for it. It is for us to point people towards him with our lives and with our behaviour and with our words. We are the human equivalent of vessels made of common, run-of-the-mill clay--fragile and easily broken. And yet God has entrusted the treasure of the gospel to such vessels. Just as Palestinians stored their valuables in common clay pots. Why does God do this? According to Paul, he does it to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. God uses what is fragile and yet serviceable so that there might be no confusion to the origin of the gospel's power. When people see or hear Christ in us, they know that it isn’t because we are just fantastic naturally, but because it is the presence of God within us, working through us. The Greek dynamis is the term from which we derive our English word "dynamite." The gospel is not merely a message that confronts the mind but an explosive power that turns a person's life upside down.
As Jesus spoke to the woman at the well as she filled her clay jars he said: “Everyone who drinks this water, will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13 - 14).
We have this water, but we need to share it with others, we have the hope that is the Gospel. We carry this hope out into the world. Each of us have been made for a specific purpose, like clay jars we are ordinary and weak but we are all unique. We each are called to different purposes but with one thing in common; we are all made to carry something of the highest value, the death and suffering of Christ. God's message of love to mankind. How much more important, fulfilling and meaningful can life get?

Could God really be exclusively male?

There are many Christians today that truly believe that God has a gender and is therefore male, including his physical appearance and his personality traits. God created man in his image. Women were created as a 'helper' for the men from the Hebrew word (ezer)in Genesis. Subordination then is their role, designed for them by God.
However, if anything we perceive to be 'good' or 'holy' in a person is a reflection of God's nature, does that mean that only men exhibit these qualities? But surely any positives in any human MUST come from God? He is the origin of all goodness. This would of course include so called feminine attributes if we accept that females have some positive traits in their make-up. Unfortunately many Christians still harbour Greek philosophical ideas about women. They misinterpret the story of the Fall as the result of women's weakness and unsuitablility to lead. Eve was the one who upset the applecart and rebelled. Adam was an unfortunate and fairly silent victim in the whole sorry tale. According to some, all he did wrong was to lack the backbone to stand up to his wife and say NO! Consequently those preaching this theology, have to accept that they see all women as inferior. Their attitude to God's character and 'gender' betrays this. If man alone was made in the true image of God as many in this school of thought believe, then where does that leave women? I asked a friend who believes this stuff recently and his answer was that women were made in the image of man. I must conclude then that like the Greeks, women are seen by some Christians to be inherently inferior to man, not made in God's image but made in the image of Adam. Women cannot truly reflect God's nature because nothing exclusively feminine is 'good' or 'holy'. i.e. directly from God. As God's nature is inherently good; God must therefore be a male through and through...
I worry about these teachings and the effect they are having in our churches today. How many women have been damaged by them? How many have turned away from tnhe church altogether? Serious prayer is needed, so that Jesus attitude to women becomes the one we follow, not a major misinterpretation of the Biblical passages which rely mostly on translation, a lack of contextual understanding and inherited pagan attitudes.

BREADSONG
It's not in the bread
but in the breaking
that the mystery of God's story is told.
It's not in the seed
but in the dying,
not in the treasure
but in the digging for it.
It's not in the mountain
but in its moving.

It's not in the wine
but in the pouring out
that a new world is purchased
for the weary.
It's not in the cross
but in the crucified,
not in the nails
but in the nailing.
It's not in the grave
but in the rising from it.

It's in the giving
that the gift becomes life;
it's in the living
that the Word becomes flesh.

It's in this taking,
this receiving,
this sharing of a supper,
this pointing to a future
that is promised
and paid for
and pressed into our hands;
it's in this everyday mealtime miracle
that the universe is born
to new life.

From a collection of poems by Gerard Kelly called 'Spoken Worship', published by Zondervan (isbn no: 0-310-27550-4).

WOMEN IN MINISTRY


I've been reading 'Why Not Women?" by Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton (YWAM Publishing, Seattle). It is a comprehensive summary of all of the arguments for an Egalatarian approach to leadership and the intention of God for humanity since the creation. I have already read a great deal of articles/books on the subject, but think that this one best sums up the reasons why many Bible believing Christians (and Evangelicals to boot), do believe that a Complementarian view of men and women is actually unscriptural and therefore against God's plan for us.
The book covers the background of Biblical and surrounding cultural beliefs about women, including the Greeks, Romans and Jews. It focuses on Jesus attitude, particularly against the backdrop of a misogynistic society and hi-lights Paul's praise of and support for certain women ministers. In particular, the book looks in detail at a number of key 'Complementarian' passages (1 Cor 14, 1 Tim 2 amongst others,)and unpacks well known theological positions such as 'Headship'.
I feel strongly that the many Complemetarians I know (I became a Christian within a Conservative Evangelical setting), have come to their views without really examining the opposing arguments. Those I have debated with, tend to assume that those of us who disagree with their interpretation of scripture (and it is an interpretation and not 'plain reading' as some would try to claim!), are throwing out our 'high view' of scripture and selling out to a reason only approach to theology and doctrine.
This book shows anyone who bothers to read it that this is just not so.
It is my hope that those who disagree with me on these issues and hold to a male headship view of Christian leadership; would at least read the opposing arguments and accept that they too have spiritual integrity and are backed up by legitimate theological scholarship. Sadly, through discussion, I have found this to be much rarer than I would like.
Those of us who have examined both perspectives (whatever position we hold), have I hope, a better understanding of and respect for the others reasoning, however much we may disagree with it. That has to be the way of Christ and thus of Christians, doesn't it?

Random thoughts

I am a little too preoccupied at the moment with something which will be decided in a few months time:- my curacy. I think the problem is down to two things.
1) I like to plan and be in control of my life and I know that instead I must leave this to God and trust him to lead all those who are involved in the discernment of where, who, which etc. to get it right.
2) I am just plain excited and can't wait to find out where it is that we as a family will be sent! What kind of community will it be? Rural or Urban? What kind of church? What will the Vicar be like? Will it be Evangelical enough for me but still accept my ministry as a female? What will our new home be like (also linked to the feminine part of me I suspect)...and so it goes on, like a swirling whirlpool of thoughts and preoccupations...
All I can actually do though is pray and wait and trust....It is at times like this when I wish I was more spiritual...

My sermom for Sunday, a sneak preview:

All things to all people: 1 (Corinthians 9:16-23)
When it comes to people, most of us live with a range of attitudes. We need people to share our lives, to socialise with, share insights and information, and to interact in ways that shape our lives and theirs. Family and friendships are very important. We are naturally social animals. On the other hand, if we are honest, there are people in this world that we have no desire to be with. With some, even minimal contact can be difficult and to be avoided!
Sometimes, the distinctions we make are personal. We just don't like some people. Sometimes, the distinctions we make are social. With some people, we feel as if we have no common ground on which to build a relationship. This isn’t anything new. Jews had no dealings with Gentiles. Greeks considered themselves superior to Barbarians. Today, Palestinians and Jews live in the same land but in a relationship marked with fierce violence. Modern British society is made up of many different cultures and traditions, many of whom never meet or experience one another as friends. Thankfully class division and racism are less pronounced than they were but they still exist. Middle class will often mix with middle class, working class with working class. I am including myself in this. How many upper class people can I call a friend for example? Our paths just don’t cross very often, we are culturally separated. Our occupations and age can also classify us and separate us from one another. In our current looks led culture, young people are often encouraged to make judgments of others purely on their appearance. We hear more and more about even children becoming obsessed with losing weight, having cosmetic surgery, spending money they don’t have on ‘looking good’. The reasons given are so that they will be popular, have lots of friends and fit in. Sad but true. Looking good has replaced the God given desire to ‘be good’ or more accurately to attempt to emulate Jesus.
It isn’t just the young who have to conform to social stereotypes and post modern cultural rules. All age groups look for certain commonalities when forming deeper friendships. This isn’t wrong in itself. It is however a problem when we develop a tendency to exclude certain kinds of person from our circle because of preconceived ideas and assumptions, without actually knowing anything about them.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul speaks about his attitude towards other people and how he relates to them. His words in verse 22 have often been misinterpreted to mean a sort of spineless, two faced kind of attitude. I don’t believe for one minute that this is what he is getting at. Paul doesn’t mean that he wants Christians to be lovely to some one’s face and then criticise them mercilessly behind their back. Unfortunately this is a definite human trait and one that we as Christians need to be watchful of.
Instead, Paul states that he is free in verse 19, he has no obligation to anyone, he isn’t forced to behave in a particular way, or to be nice to someone just for the sake of it. We know that he was a strong character who wasn’t afraid of challenging authority, being imprisoned and ultimately he gave his life for his faith.
No, his words here refer to how he feels we as Christians should relate to others, in order that they may see God in us. As Christians we should want others to get a glimpse of God when they look at us. I have to ask myself, how often though does my attitude and behaviour fall short of that ideal?
How do we as Christians respond to one another in our day to day lives? How do we respond to different viewpoints or to different ways of doing things within the church? Are we prepared to “become all things to all men, that I might by all means save a few” In other words, are we aware that sometimes what is the best and most obvious way of being or doing to one person will not be the best and most obvious to another. We live in such an eclectic society, with the best will in the world, you can’t please all of the people all of the time and we certainly can’t all be the same, nor would we want to be – that would be pretty unexciting!
How then does the Bible teach that we should behave as individuals? Thankfully, we’re not on our own. Jesus modeled the way for us to be. He was totally at home in a range of situations and relationships. He taught the high ranking men of the synagogue (aged 12), he challenged Pharisees and Sadducees about their theology, he ate with the despised and marginalised, the tax collectors and sinners. He spoke to women, not something which was accepted or expected in his day. In the way that he related to those around him, he was ‘all things to all men’. He embodied Paul’s words. He never compromised that which was really important, but he was always ready to relook at practices which were taken for granted and turn them on their head - healing on the Sabbath for example.
Above all, to the vulnerable, Jesus was approachable. All strata’s of society felt comfortable in his company.
Approachable people exhibit the following characteristics:
1) Personal warmth; they truly like people and generate personal warmth toward those they meet each day.
2) Their moods are consistent. Approachable people are usually the same every time you see them. They may not always feel like this inside, but they work hard not to take out their moods on others.
3) Sensitivity toward people's feelings. Although approachable people are emotionally steady, that doesn't mean they expect others to be that way. They recognise that good people have bad days; consequently they tune their moods to the feelings of others and quickly adjust how they relate to them.
4) Understanding of human weakness, and exposure of their own. Novelist Ed Howes said, 'Express a mean opinion of yourself occasionally, it will show your friends that you know how to tell the truth.' Approachable people are honest about their abilities; and their shortcomings. They embrace the old proverb which says: 'Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.' And because they can admit their own faults, they don't have a problem allowing other people to have faults as well.
5) They show an ability to forgive, and are the first to ask for forgiveness.
As Christians we need to take these concepts really seriously. Those outside of the church will look to us when they are searching for God. If we respond well to them and really show care and consideration for them, they may be more disposed towards us and may listen to what we have to share. Ultimately our hope should be that through us, they find faith for themselves. In doing so we will be living out Paul’s final words in the passage:
I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Amen.

I love this:

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Enneagram

On one of my recent course weekends we were asked to complete a personality profile test called an Enneagram. I hoped that it would identify my natural characteristics and enable me to connect my personality with my current spiritual behaviour. One of the things I continually beat myself up about is that I don't always find private prayer easy to relax into. Knowing more about my personality could help to develop my spirituality, once I knew what kinds of prayer suited my type. Learning about myself and the personality types of others would also enable me to be watchful of my reactions towards others spiritually, pastorally and socially.

The sessions explained that we have one, over-riding energy which determines our behaviour. This can be our greatest attribute and our biggest failing. It affects our outlook, prayer life, preferences and relationships. As a Type Two(helper), I learned that the need to be needed could be both positive and negative. When a ‘helper’ is at a healthy level then words such as ‘compassionate’, ‘generous’ and ‘loving’ are used. These are all qualities I would like to have and would want to see in any Christian. However; ‘manipulative’, ‘domineering’ and ‘belittling’ are used as unhealthy characteristics; disastrous qualities for an ordained minister to exhibit! Sadly, I know that all of these behaviours are possibilities for me. Therefore the Enneagram has acted as a warning as well as an encouragement.

The session relating personality types to prayer gave me a deeper insight into my own struggles and came as a bit of a relief. Because 'Helpers' are naturally busy people who enjoy being with others. I am also an extrovert which increases this need. They gain energy from interaction and so sitting quietly just resting in God can seem very unnatural. It can be done however, if we understand how our personality can be encouraged to be more reflective. Using visual aids to focus upon and let go of the worls around can be the key for my personality type. Over the past year I have tried using candles and other visuals to concentrate my mind and have begun to find just existing in God’s presence beneficial and uplifting.

The sessions helped me to be aware that I need times of silence as repose from the busyness of life and to connect the two, listening for God’s voice in response to my worries, fears and problems.

Christmas fun!

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My BLOG is ISFP - The Artist




The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

Find out your blog type here

The real meaning of Christmas...

Ok, I've been tagged by Rachel at Re vis.e Re-form to write a creed in no more than 140 characters...Here it is:

We trust:
In the Father, source of all.
In Jesus, who lived, died and rose to save us, bringing life to all who turn to God.
In the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in our lives.

I am tagging Dot at Thoughts on a Journey

One of the things we have been asked to do on my course this term is change a standard sermon into a story as a way of teaching a congregation. I preached a sermon about the Magi last epiphany, so I decided to have a go with that as my topic...here it is!

The Journey

I have always dwelt in the wild mountains of Tibet - cold and remote, wild and desolate, magical almost - a perfect platform for viewing the stars. The science of astrology is my passion and I have studied the heavens since I was a boy. Now I am approaching old age and thought that I would end my days in the foothills of ‘The Great Mountain’: but it was not to be...
My master mage, Yeshi called me to him some months ago when the snow lay thick upon the lowest slopes. The icicles hung sharp and clear, a jagged display along the roofline of his mountain retreat. The whole landscape seemed to melt into the sunlight. Brilliant ice and glittering snow sparkled under my feet as I climbed the final few steps.
Inside, Yeshi explained that he wanted me to help him examine a strange anomaly which had appeared in the heavens. I must admit that at that time I had not noticed it, but my eyes are not what they once were. Yeshi explained that it was a new star and that it shone more brightly each night. Curiously, it seemed to move steadily westwards, as if we should follow its leading. We looked at the ancient scrolls which contained star charts and prophecies and confirmed that this kind of celestial event usually foretold the birth of a King. An exciting thought, if this king was from our own land, but by the position of the star and its constant travelling it seemed that he would be born many miles away, to a people we did not know.
Eager to find out the truth, Yeshi sent a messenger to a Mage that I did not know who lived even further to the east in the land of the Mandarin Lords. Cong-Cheng arrived in the spring, flanked by his retinue of servants, asses and camels, groaning under the weight of his mobile laboratory. Star charts jostled with strange contraptions which he used to measure the constellations and to foretell the future. It was this gift which had drawn him to us. Cong-Cheng had been intrigued by our message and excitedly shared with us his own interpretation of the meaning of the mysterious star. That night, as we gazed into the firelight I realised that his ideas about the coming king surpassed our own in an amazing way. Our meal of roast chicken and rice was consumed with barely a touch to my taste buds as he wove a tale of majesty and power mixed with peace and ultimate sacrifice. This king, Cong-Cheng told us, was sent by none other than the Great Spirit who gives life to all things. This king was to be the means by which we could be reconciled to God himself.
I am ashamed to admit that I had not even considered that a divinity would want to bother with humanity, let alone be reconciled to us. I asked Cong-Cheng to elaborate. It was then that he showed me the ancient Hebrew scrolls which he had in his possession. In them there were prophecies which Cong-Cheng believed related to this star. My breathing quickened..Were we witnessing an event more important than anything we had so far imagined?
We talked far into the night but at last it was decided. We would follow the star until we found the palace where the new leader dwelt. A King sent by God was worthy of worship. We wanted to be there to pay him homage. In anticipation of what lay ahead I packed my scrolls and my astrological instruments as well as the provisions that I would need on the long journey to who knew where?
Many months later, after travelling over deserts and fertile plains, the star appeared to rest over the kingdom of Herod. We knew little of him and made our way through the crowded streets of Jerusalem towards his palace high on the hill. Naturally we expected to find the baby within. But he was not there. Nevertheless, King Herod welcomed up enthusiastically and wanted us to tell him everything we knew about the strange star in the heavens. Then he entertained us royally and asked us to return to his palace to enjoy further hospitality once we had found the child. We accepted his invitation and travelled on our way, little knowing that in a few days time, we would be warned strongly by an Angel not to go back. To do so would be to sign the child’s premature death warrant!
The star flared even more brightly that night. We travelled onwards and came upon the town of Bethlehem, nestled in the hills, quiet and calm...waiting...
At the edge of the settlement there was a modest house. Flat roofed and whitewashed, it shone eerily in the light cast by the ever present star overhead. Shadows ebbed and flowed beneath its beams. A few sheep and goats huddled in the corner of the yard. One goat nibbled curiously at my cloak as I edged past. Lamplight through the window betrayed the presence of those within. Yeshi knocked on the door. A tall, simply dressed man with tousled hair answered the door. He seemed somewhat bemused to see us there but bade us enter. His young wife baked flatbreads and served us a pottage made from a little meat and vegetables - it was all they had. In a corner the child lay beneath a sheepskin blanket in a beautifully carved cradle - a carpenter’s son enjoying the fruits of his father’s labour. I walked over to look at him. He was about a year old and he sucked his thumb as he slept. It was strange but his whole countenance exuded peace. Suddenly I knew for certain that this was the King we had come to worship. The son of a carpenter, living in an unremarkable town, without riches or majesty and yet...I knew...
With silent acquiescence we knelt and laid our gifts before him. Gold for Kingship, Myrrh for death and sacrifice, Frankincense for spirituality and godliness. Each gift selected to match the prophecies we had sought and studied.
‘Truly this King is the son of God, the Saviour who was foretold! proclaimed Cong-Cheng.
Yeshi and I could only bow our heads in silent wonder.

I was reminded yesterday that I only have about a year and a half left before ordination...this came as no surprise, but did set me thinking about how unprepared I really am for the whole thing!

I have been on two funeral visits this week which I obviously can't comment on in any detail here, it is enough to say that one of them was pretty harrowing. Even though I only had to sit there and care, it was a difficult experience. Whilst I realise how much there is still to learn before I will be remotely ready to start my curacy, I also feel very affirmed in these daunting situations.

It has occured to me that ministering to people is not just what I want to do, it is what I am! Am I changing my theology on the ontological nature of ordained ministry? I'm not sure.. I DO know that I believe that all Christians have a specific calling within which Jesus channels his love and through whom he chooses to fulfill his purposes. Whether that means all are included in the ontological nature of calling (just different callings), I don't know. Can a teacher really not be a teacher when s/he is not teaching or a Doctor not be a doctor when s/he isn't on duty?

I will have to reflect on this further.

We have a very cute pair of guinea pigs called Ginger and Tufty. We recently moved them into their new accomodation which is a rather smart apartment with a grassy area underneath in which they can graze and generally poddle about. Upstairs is their bedroom with warm shavings and straw and of course their food. I should imagine it is bliss for a guinea pig...

BUT, do they ever look beyond the enclosure at the garden beyond and wonder what it would be like to be out there? It must be hard to see the sunny part of the garden when you are stuck in the shady bit, or eye up that lovely bunch of dandelions which are just out of reach. They don't know what it is like not having to rely on me to move them to pastures new or on my choice of food for them. They don't know anything else but our garden. It could get very boring...if they ever thought about it.

Being outside their comfort zone would have its negatives of course. They may be eaten by a fox or injured by a cat! If they managed to find somewhere safe as a bed, they wouldn't be as warm and cosy as they are in the hutch. (No nice warm straw there.) The would have to be totally independent for food and shelter, foraging for what they could get and accepting the unfamiliar.

So why am I musing about all this? It struck me that Christians can be in either position. We can get comfortable in our churches, in the activities which we enjoy and are good at, in the friendship groups we are used to. We can be passive and reliant on the leadership to tell us where and why..poddling about as we have always done. Or we can hear God's call out of the comfort of the enclosure and go where things may not be as familiar; where it may be more dangerous and less reliable and comfortable. Daunting huh? The upside it that God may have the spiritual equivalent of a bunch of dandelions waiting for us, which would have always been out of reach before. We may be able to bask in patches of sunshine at the far end of the garden. We may even visit entirely new gardens never seen before in which there may be lettuces and tomatoes or even more guinea pigs... who knows?

Only those who step out of the comfort zone get to find out! Are you prepared to?

Why do some Christians and branches of Christianity come across at best as eccentric and at worst total lunatics, who need locking up? Is it because they are total fruitcakes or is it because I am just not holy enough to recognise their unique understanding of God's revelation which they enjoy? As an example, it seems as if some feel it is entirely rational to brand Barack Obama as the anti Christ, see this for the full story.

Why is it that a sizable proportion of the church seem to spend so much time debating issues which are red herrings? Shouldn't we as Christians be taking a leaf out of Jesus book (he spent much of his time talking to tax collectors and sinners I recall,) and concentrating on talking to people about their need for God?

Instead they seem to be getting involved in pointless arguments and speculative rhetoric, like the Pharisees did. This kind of pejorative, ego driven criticism really makes me mad!! Even if Barack were some kind of anti messiah, will discussing it in detail help? Yes, we are called to be aware of false prophets and to be on our guard, but the endless debate and speculation over so called 'end of the world prophecies' is just pointless! Wouldn't it be better (if those who believe this stuff have integrity), to encourage Christians to get out there and triple their evangelistic efforts, if they truly believe that the end is so close??

I have to say that if we are looking for the powers of darkness, then I am more worried about this branch of the church being a tool for Satan. Who knows how many searching people are being put off looking into Christianity because of this sacremongering tripe? Whilst they are debating the reasons why Barack, (or any other politician they don't especially like), is or isn't the anti christ, they have taken their eyes off the real task of speaking to people about Jesus.

It's not as if we are not warned in scripture keep our eyes firmly fixed on the ball...Paul tells us not to get involved in arguments over pointless things in Titus chapter 3..

8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

9But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

If they feel that they are correct; then fine, get out there and intensify evangelistic efforts! After all, if the end times are that close then evanglelism can be the only rational response...If they are wrong, what immense judgemental damage have they done to smear and damn the integrity of Barack Obama?

Who will be next to receive this kind of vitriol I wonder?
Anyone else who doesn't quite fit into their particular understanding of Christianity I suppose..I'd better hold onto my hat...