Not conforming, but being transformed...

There's a real agitation and tension in me these days about what's happening to society in the UK. Maybe it's because I spend my days in a very atheist working environment or maybe it's simply that God's stirring up a sense of injustice in me that wants to cry: "No more". There are worse things going on, but for some reason this story on the Telegraph website got my hackles up today.

Just in case the story moves. The Oxford Junior Dictionary has removed many words relating to Christianity from its recent edition, basically because they think it's irrelevant or that most kids don't got to church anymore. These are some of the words:

Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar

Amusing that the 'devil' has gone. I'm always reminded of that great line in The Usual Suspects: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Slowly, carefully and methodically Christianity is being shoved under the carpet by those in academia that have decided that it's irrelevant. This is the challenge for all Christians in influential positions, particularly those in the area of science, education and media . I'd urge you to stand up and defend your faith and if you can't, I'd ask you to consider why it is you're ashamed of God? If you're afraid of man more than God, then I'd suggest asking yourself where your confidence comes from and what drives your life.

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Philippians 1:21

Compression bandages are not fun...

Pain hurts. An obvious point, but one worth mentioning. Pain also has a tendency to colour your thoughts.

Recently, I've been getting quite a bit of pain in my left leg, especially at night. I can't be bothered to explain all the minutiae, except to say that I've cut it and when I do this or bruise myself the healing process tends to take months. It's also often accompanied with the kind of shooting pain that makes me want to kick a hole in the wall.

On an arbitrary scale of universal pain, it's pretty minor, but it has made me look at suffering in a different light. It's going to sound very English, but it's jolly well, good character building. A fellow struggling on, against the odds, builds backbone, don't ya know. Still bloody hurts, but yeah for me it's grown perseverance.

I often wonder what Joseph must have thought - not that I can compare myself to such a great man - when he was punted off to Egypt by his brothers. Suffering certainly refined him. Not everyone is likely to become the prime minister of Egypt through suffering, though. I'm learning to trust that God the father isn't handing me a rottweiler, when I'm asking for a cold glass of milk. It's not always easy, but I'm acknowledging his sovereign plan is far, far bigger and more complex than I will probably ever comprehend. 

I have a terrible habit of starting blog entries and not publishing them. I guess it's because I realise I'm blogging thoughts as I form an opinion about some point of theology or other, and realise that to publish them leaves me open to trolls and assorted nefarious net lurkers. You know what though, really whatever. If I'm going to blog properly I may as well be like Jeremiah or Jonah and expose my doubts as well as my convictions. Mind blowing as it still is to me, the creator of the universe will still love me when I screw up - and I screw up a lot.

So, yes what I've written below is quite old, but hey my readership has dwindled to just a half-blind dog, since the old man passed away and I therefore doubt anyone will notice the lapse.

It looks like the split in the Anglican church continues to rage on after the Lambert Conference. The Times in a recent article, has revealed that Canon Peter Jones, the treasurer of Bangor Cathedral and a vicar in the diocese is threatening resignation if Dr Jeffrey John,  the current Dean of St Albans, is appointed Bishop of Bangor.

It's not so much the fact that a practising gay dean may become a bishop, to be honest I figure it's only a matter of time, but that the media continues to transpose the word 'biblical' with 'traditional' in reference to biblical priniciples they don't like, when they conflict with contemporary culture.

What's also interesting is journalists' insistence on referencing Old Testament Jewish law to justify the reason for ignoring biblical principles, here's a good example:

"However, the Rev Martin Reynolds, a priest in Wales and a spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said that many traditional teachings in the Bible, such as severe punishments for adultery, were no longer observed literally."

I find it bizarre that a religious correspondent for The Time (no less) doesn't appear to know the fundamental theology of Christianity. I realise they're quoting someone else, but you'd think they'd check to see if they made sense in a Christian context. The bible is clear. Jesus, the son of God, came to Earth to reconcile man to his Father, by his death on a cross and resurrection. Jesus took all our wrongdoing - things like our lying, cheating, anger, malice, jealous and sexual immorality and allowed them all to be nailed to his flesh, so we don't have to contend with all the Old Testament rules and regs. Sure we still have a few, but stoning adulterers isn't one of them. 'Love your neighbour as yourself' is though.

Blogs are tricky beasts. There's a part of you that wants to articulate what's going on in your life, while there's another voice that calmly warns you that expressing all things, especially if they pertain to others, isn't helpful or right. That's not to say that I want to bitch, but that your private life isn't called 'private' for nothing.

I've often pondered writing a private online journal, hidden from view until my death, when the executor of my will flicks a 'reveal' switch to expose my unfiltered thoughts. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except to say that I often wonder what it'll be like when a time finally arrives when people, Christians in particular and I include myself in this, speak to each other without exposing the words they really mean in the pauses between what they are actually speaking.

Going off on another tangent, I was reading Simon Benham's blog today, elder at Newfrontier's church, Kerith Community and was saddened to hear the news about Michael Guglielmucci. Michael is, or rather was, a high-profile pastor and Christian songwriter at one of the Planetshakers youth churches in Australia. Simon has done a good job of linking to various sources and the various angles on the story – some juicier than others – so I'm not going to elaborate beyond saying that Michael appears to have lied about having cancer to cover up a pr0n addiction. There's probably more to it than that, but I'd rather not contribute too much to the inevitable speculation 'churn' on the interweb.

As I read Simon's blog entry though, I could hear the Healer song written by Michael playing in my mind and it's still a very powerful song. Maybe that's because it was written by a man crying out to God to heal him. I can't help wishing, like many others, that he'd written it about his porn addiction.

Simon also mentions Todd Bentley, the lead figure in the huge healing meetings going on Lakeland, Florida, and the sad discovery that he appears to have been 'doing something he shouldn't with a female associate' and that he's separated from his wife. All a bit vague from his board of directors, but enough to wrench a few bricks out of the Lakeland Outpouring tower and see it topple. I've already had people seek me out to tell me the details. On one occasion I was tempted to congratulate them on saying "I told you so", without actually saying the words. Sadly, I'm not perfect either! I admit I struggled with some of the theology coming out of Lakeland, but there was a strong sense of God moving and working in people's lives through all the baloney and I'd rather it'd petered out than burnt out as it has done. Mind you, the other key figure in the Lakeland outpouring, Pastor Steven Strader at Ignited Church ain't giving up yet.

Todd Bentley

For me these two sad events emphasize the need for accountability among Christians, regardless of their position. Accountability only works, though, if the person you're accountable to is prepared to be appropriately confrontational and that you, yourself, are prepared to be honest and humbly submit to authority. I guess I'm saying it's not a perfect system and is open to abuse, but it certainly beats prophets and evangelists wandering from church to church (or meeting to meeting) like Christian versions of Kung-fu's David Carridine.

For those Christians who see Todd's sin as an excuse to go back to sleep should consider how many people in their local churches that have been healed. Seeing what was happening in Lakeland has built faith in many Christians to actually ask God for him to work through them. A mere man has been tempted and chosen to take the Devil's bait, but God, demonstrated throughout Biblical history, will have his glory and will continue to be glorified.

I feel God shaking me up at the moment through various mediums, like the lyrics of a Casting Crown song:

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

I feel challenged that we are his Children of Light and as such we should be showing Jesus through our lives, grasping every opportunity to act and speak, as we discern his will through Spirit and scripture. For some time now I've had a phrase going through my mind: "Arise, Awake! Oh that you would arise O' Sleeper!' I believe God's saying it's time to stop sleeping in the hold, like Jonah, because we are all like Jonah.

And the biggest challenge I see in Jonah's story is that when he finally started being obedient, God used him as the catalyst for the fastest recorded revival in history. It's clear that Jonah hated the idea of his enemies, who'd tortured and killed thousands of his people, were to be given a chance, but God had his glory and over half a million Assyrians in the city of Ninevah repented and were saved...

'Make Me A Christian' contestants

Scanning the Metro this morning – which is about all you can do with its contents really – I’ve noted that it hasn’t taken long for supporters of ‘The Genius of Charles Darwin’ show, presented by Richard Dawkins, to contrast its polished and reasoned discussion of Darwin’s theories of evolution with another Channel 4 show called ‘Make Me A Christian’.

Sadly, ‘Make Me A Christian’ lacked any sophistication or reason. In fact, it was pretty ignorant fare; part Challenge Anneka, part reality TV makeover show that was more crackpot than a cogent exposition of Christianity.

I can imagine the Channel 4 execs were rubbing their hands together in glee, as they cooked up a way to pay homage at the altar of Charles Darwin, while making Christianity into a game show and appearing to appease the UK Church.

What could have been a great opportunity to show a group of people exposed to the gospel was turned into a three-week challenge, where participants were effectively told to ‘put up or shut up’ with following Christian practices, by a hodge-potch of different denominational church leaders. Honestly. It made me sick and not a little angry.

Unsurprisingly, and completely orchestrated, there were lots of tears and anger during most episodes. What these church leaders thought they were doing is baffling. If they were in their home church they would never expect a non-Christian to stop doing things like womanizing, witchcraft and binge drinking without first guiding them to Jesus, seeing them believe, confess that belief, repent of their wrongdoings, seeing them baptized in water and asking the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, so that they were then empowered to make those changes in their lives. The presence of a TV camera, apparently, negates the need for all these things to happen - I'm still checking my Bible for that passage, it's probably in 'The Message' version, or something.

For those who don't understand some of the Christianese I've used in the last paragraph. What was being asked of the contestants was a bit like asking someone to get in a car and drive a 1,000 miles, when you can see the vehicle’s got no tyres or engine or fuel – so pretty much impossible.  Right believing, you see, leads to right living, or rather right believing leads to having the car parts you need to make that journey. I just know someone's gonna say you actually get a whole new car, when you become a Christian, but hey it's just an analogy folks!

Amusingly enough, one atheist Metro reader’s letter had the cheek to describe ‘Make Me a Christian’ as “religious propaganda”. In reality, I don’t think it could have done a better job of pandering to every stereotypical misconception that the media likes to peddle about Christianity. Namely that it’s all about ritual, legalism, homophobia, condemnation and sexual inhibition. The only thing it was missing was Paul Merton to judge each ‘contestant’ at the end of the three weeks and dispatch unrepentant souls to hell, Room 101-style.

Here’s a tip (or two) for any church leaders out there who fancy themselves as the next hip Christian telly presenter – make the programmes yourself. If you haven't the resources to do that then firmly, but politely, demand control over the final cut. Otherwise, you only have yourself to blame when your words are twisted, subverted and left on the editing room floor.  The mainstream media is on a mission to evangelise this generation and they surely ain’t selling Jesus.

Matthew 10:16 (NIV)
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Pessimism is a killer...

It's official – pessimism can kill you.

For some unfathomable reason work has decided to start sending 'wellbeing' messages to everyone and this article was included in the most recent email.

"IN BRIEF: A gloomy disposition may shorten your lifespan, researchers say. They're not exactly sure why or how, but it does seem that optimism is good for your physical wellbeing."

Since we're all journalists (of sorts) here at Future Towers, who eat pessimism on slices of cynicism, sprinkled with biting irony, I'm expecting to see hacks expiring at their desks anytime now...