Why do we rebel?

There seems to be a trait in humans, and we see it especially in kids of a certain age ( but hope they will grow out of it), that wants to rebel and kick against the very people who love them and want the best for them.
Why is this?
Whilst it may be understandable in a teenager it is both sad and tragic when it carries on through adulthood. An inability to see or realise or appreciate that somebody is actually and genuinely motivated by doing what you need rather than just what you want. A frightening ability to persuade ourselves that what we want IS what we need.
In Hosea 11 we find these words:
"When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.......... It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

If we could hear God's voice it would be full of love and anguish, as He does what He knows is best for people, offering care and love, protection and provision, but His heart is rejected and He goes unrecognised by the people He loves. They think they know best but actually they want something that is way less than His best for them.

In the last para it seems to indicate that God often shows us His love and support through the people we are closest to or people he brings across our path - through human kindness and love - but that people simply fail to recognise the activity of God in good human relationships and actions often rejecting those who love them and the God who acts through them. And all because we know best, that what we want is really what we need, and nothing else will satisfy us. Anyone coming with a different story becomes the focus of rebellion and rejection.
Why not ask God to open our eyes to recognise not only what really is best for us, to differentiate between want and need and to value those people who have our real best interests at heart and express this through their actions?



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Orthodox heretic and other impossible tales

This isn't so much a blog as a book review - or recommendation... I am reading The Orthodox Heretic by Peter Rollins who is the founder of Ikon in Belfast. Why did I buy the book? - because Michael Gungor recommended it on Twitter (twitter.com/michaelgungor) while I am on the subject (a slight diversion) Please be my strength is a great track by him....as is most of his stuff.
Anyway, The Orthodox Heretic is definitely not for those who are afraid to question some of the ways they have come to understand the faith and some of the preconceptions about what 'God's Word' really is. Without giving too much away it is about parables, or, specifically about the way parables communicate and what they communicate, which may well take some of us by surprise.
In a western Christian world where the tendency is often to preach in such a way that people are being told what to think or believe in simple bite sized chunks there are some classic and quotable sentences.
"Parables subvert this desire to make faith simple and understandable..." and a little later,
"A parable does not primarily provide information about our world. Rather, if we allow it to do its work within us, it will change our world - breaking it open to ever new possibilities."
Then there is a real killer paragraph that strikes to the heart:

" ....parables represent a mode of communicating that cannot be heard without being heeded, in which the only evidence of having 'heard' its message is in the fleshly incarnation of that message. The parable is heard only when it changes one's social standing to the current reality, not one's mere reflection of it. The parable does not create more sef-aware purveyors of irony - whereby one mocks the very behaviour that one engages in, thus enjoying the activity in the very moment of disavowing it." Ouch......!

The remainder of the book is a collection of parables - but not the one's you will be expecting - followed by some personal commentary. They will certainly cause you to stop and think. It's a difficult book, a hopeful book and something that should cause youto consider things in a slightly different light.

The Orthodox Heretic, and other impossible tales. (Canterbury Press)

Stop praying...... NOW!

Have you, as a Christian, ever prayed and asked God to give you the power to stop doing this or that, stop saying this or that ?
This week I got a clear word about why those prayers are just plain wrong.

A pastor friend of mine was once asked by a member of his congregation, who was struggling to get to morning prayer meetings, if he would pray for him to be able to get up and get there.
The reply from the pastor was an emphatic 'no' , followed by "use an alarm clock" The ball was back in the members court, the choice was his!
This may well be a more trivial matter but when it comes to sin it becomes more serious.
God has given to Christians the Spirit of holiness and of power....... and of self control. If we really believe that, and if we believe that we have one in heaven who intercedes for us, then it becomes much more about what we choose than what we pray.

If we continually pray about something when the means to achieve what we are praying about has already been given to us it will inevitably be a fruitless exercise. We are praying a prayer, the answer to which is already within our means because of what God has already done for us and given to us, in other words we are wasting time when we could be living the answer.
In many of these instances God's answer is already there - "don't pray, CHOOSE to use the resources I have already given you"
CHOOSE not to do that
CHOOSE not to say that
CHOOSE TO DO right
CHOOSE TO SAY the right

Some people won't like this message because it means we actually have to act as responsible agents under God, taking responsibility for actually doing what He has equipped and empowered us to do!
There are plenty of things to pray about that are well outside of any ability God has given us to answer them - pray about these things. We really must learn when to pray and when to CHOOSE AND ACT using the resources already available to us.
Many Christians and many churches will be a lot more aligned with God's will, therefore more effective, when this lesson is learned and put into practice - and that most certainly includes me!


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Characteristics of a leader?

I am not a great fan of leadership books. You know the type I'm sure.They present a menu of stuff that, if followed, can apparently make you a leader ( in an hour if it is one of those from a motorway service area)If, however,it's one of the more 'subtle' books then it will present pretty much the same list but rather than tell you to 'do these things in order to become a leader' it will say that leaders are born not made - but if you correspond to this list then you are a naturalleader ( see what they did there?).....

However, reading Psalm 78 (and dipping into 2 Sam 6) I read how and why God commended David as a 'leader' of His people.

Firstly He uses the word 'shepherd' (Ps 78:72) - a one who is concerned first and foremost for those under his care - more than for his own advancement or well being. So, firstly, a leader has a shepherd heart after the heart of God Himself - modelled perfectly by Jesus.

Next there is a really central principle that is so lacking in much of today's 'practice of leadership' - integrity of heart. It's sometimes very difficult today, until after the event, to know the difference between the appearance of integrity, the product of highly paid,spin inducing PR gurus, and the real thing. In fact there are often only 2 people who know the difference - you and God!

Then the Psalmist mentions actually having skills for the task - another word we would use today would be 'competency'. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV) we read that "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant..." The skills and gifts to lead are so important but often forgotten, with very little being invested to develop this area in the lives of many who would be leaders. I am not referring just to 'external' investment such as an organisation may offer in terms of training and development but, because ultimately this competence is 'given from God' the most important investment is the internal. The commitment of time and effort to focus on, and spend time with, Jesus.

Finally, when we look into 2 Samuel we glimpse another crucial characteristic of a leader - enthusiasm. To be enthused and to enthuse others. When we consider the etymology of the word, quite literally 'possessed by God' we need to recover the understanding and rediscover the reality.
So, leaders: shepherd heart, integrity, skilful and possessed by God.
Me? Very much a work in progress, although sometimes feels like regress! But He is able.

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A larger place?

Firstly, if you are an agrophobic this is probably not going to be a great help - sorry....


A number of years ago there was a song by Wiley Beveridge called 'a larger place' and it struck many chords with me. I always love driving on mountain roads or walking in the mountains and coming to an unexpected ridge or viewing point to be faced with an immense and awesome vista....

I can stand for hours just looking and thinking - for me the scene is full of potential, full of possibilities, you can be taken time and again to the edge of adventure, to the borders of new discoveries...and all you need to do is set off, put one foot in front of the other and the adventure begins.....

Recently, in my reading, God has been calling me to revisit this fascination with the possibilities of being on the verge of that larger place and how it can be such a springboard for a journey of discovery.

Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[ rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Ps 18:19
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.


Ps 139:5
You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

I love the paradoxes and non rational lines of thought that scripture so often points us to. There is no place as large as the grace of God - the universe pales compared to that wonderful place - or as Michael Gungor refers to it 'prodigal grace'. The thought, in Psalm 18, of being on a journey with God during which He constantly takes us to the verge , to the crest, onto the ridge and shows us ever more awesome scenes of greatness and vastness and then the paradox of Ps 139 - that to be 'hemmed in' by God is actually to be in the largest, safest place that is full of promise and opportunity, challenge and fulfillment, peace and security.

Is this the journey you are on with God.....letting Him take you to a larger place.

A place of blessing.....

Sitting outside on a glorious morning in the Pyrenees looking at blue skies, dew on the ground and luscious plants and greenery, reading the 'song of Moses':

Deuteronomy 32:1-4 (NIV)
Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

What God has created, and continues to create, in the realm of nature, majestic mountains, the vastness of the sky, the beauty of the plants and forest all speaks of His glory, but also of His care and provision. The song from Deut 32 recalls and reminds me of this beauty and fruitfulness and points to the same creative and glorious work in our lives as well as in nature. As we focus on and are shaped by His word and as we honour His name so the effect on our lives is like that of the dew and the rain on plants. He brings out beauty and He produces fruit. He provides in abundance and He does it to perfection.

So, His word and His name are central to fruitfulness and blessing but there is another scripture that adds one further element to this fulness.
The image of dew producing abundance and blessing brings to mind Psalm 133, where the dew that brings blessing is directly linked to the quality of lifestyle of God's people. The particular hallmark of that quality being unity.

The centrality of Gods word, the lifting of His name and the people living in unity. This is where we discover blessing and fruitfulness.

However, perhaps most importantly we are reminded of God's greatness and His utter faithfulness.


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It's always the fruit that gets me

Some things in life are so fundamental, so basic to the way things work that they ought to be 'hard wired' into us, genetic 'no brainers'.
Nobody, they say, has a good enough memory to keep telling lies, fabricating the 'truth'. Lies beget more lies and they will catch you up and catch you out. We know this so why on earth would anyone lie?
But we do!
Living with a high barrier in a relationship is an uncomfortable and often unnecessary situation to be in. They are so often begun by a 'sortable' or even a minor issue - but propelled by pride and poor communication into the 'too hard to deal with' category where they fester and become cancerous. We can even reach a point where we are not even sure what caused the barrier or why we keep it there, but by this time it has become part of life and we feed it. We know this is not healthy and we often know very early on in this spiral of despair how we can avert the inevitable 'emotional crash & burn' that will follow. We know that God commands a blessing where there is unity, but, even knowing all of this, we let it happen. Why?

In Matt 3:8 Jesus says 'produce fruit in keeping with repentance' this is so obvious, such a basic principle that it surely must be part of the spiritual genetic make up of all Christians? Well, I must be the single exception as well as being particularly stupid. In Corinthians Paul talks about two types of sorrow, Godly, which is real repentance, and worldly, which is not and which leads to dark places. Basically the latter mouths the words - which may be genuinely meant at the time- but there is no follow through with life change and outward actions, whilst the former results in the 'u turn' of repentance and noticeable changes in life, action and attitude. It's obvious that so often the words are not enough, but how often does worldly sorrow prevail? How often do our repentant words fall short of repentant actions? Our words intend the 180 degree u turn but our pride, selfishness or immaturity keep the momentum going and make it a full 360 degrees! - the right words but the wrong result. A life rather more full of words than righteous works.
Well, in God's strength and by His grace, no more! Let's away with worldly sorrow and reap the benefits of abundant fruit. That is my prayer.




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