Chairs

In church today the emphasis was very much on social action, mission and looking outwards to the needs of the world around us, the reality of the world we live in and our calling as Christians in relation to that. Its something I've been thinking about a lot recently in general, and God's really been waking me up to some home truths in relation to this.

I've been trying to upgrade my phone recently as my contract is due for renewal, and so have been trying to get an i-phone 4 this week, without much success. Due to demand it may be a while before I obtain my i-phone 4. But during the week I was getting a bit annoyed as I'd waited a long time for this and now would have to wait probably another month. I even posted something in this vein on Facebook.

But then I saw Chairs, a short, 2 minute film by Rob Bell on issues of global poverty, social justice, providing - using the chairs - some very challenging statistics about the realities of what's going on in this world.
I can't embed it for some reason but click on the link below right, above or just here and watch it.

Just watch it first, then come back here.

Okay, done? Challenging wasn't it? Some absolutely shocking statistics there.

I saw that video, looked back at my status on Facebook - and the response to it - and felt sick. I felt so ashamed, humbled and challenged.

There are 1 billion in the world who don't have clean drinking water,
800 million people who will go to bed hungry tonight
2 billion who survive on 2 US dollars per day
1 billion children in poverty

and I'm worried about whether I have the latest I-phone?

I may not be, in our culture, seen as one of the richest people in the world. But in comparison to most people in the world, I'm rich. Its that simple. Instead of moaning about what I don't have I should be thankful and humbled by what I do have, and be using what I have and what I've been given to make a difference to those who don't. I've got no right to moan about not getting the latest i-phone - or any 'latest thing', when I want it. There might be things going on in my life - we all have issues we need to face up to, real problems we need to deal with, of course we do, and this doesn't devalue those.

But we need to get some perspective. Lets get upset about things that matter and do something about it.

One other thing. Did you notice it?

He didn't mention God, Jesus or Christianity at all. Not once.

Because these problems and the need to deal with them, aren't just a problem for Christians, these are issues for us all. None of us should be feeling comfortable at these statistics. Whatever we agree or disagree on, you cannot help but be challenged by these statistics. Either we can sink into apathy and just ignore it, we can take a poor attitude and blame it all on them, or we can do something about it, even in our own relatively small way. We don't all have to go out there and do big things, but we can change the little decisions we make and take these things into consideration. We can start to look at the world differently, and take responsibility for those in need, and keep that perspective when we get a gripe about something that probably isn't important.

One of the best lines in the whole film, and where I will finish here, is at the end when he's just gone through these statistics and issues, then immediately says something which sums it all up and should make us sit up and take notice:

"Now I don't know your worldview, I don't know your perspective, your background or your religion...
..but that is not right"

Posted via email from James Prescott

Is this it?

Stephen Hawking declared recently - to the delight of all secularists and atheists - that science now had 'no need of God' (Read it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11161493). Of course we had all the standard reaction from both secularist/atheists and people of faith alike. It happened to be around the time of the Papal visit as well, which brought crowds out in hundreds of thousands, as well as millions watching on television. As I've reflected on these two things in particular I've come to some opinions about what these things and our reaction to them might mean for us, both culturally and as Christians

Before I come to that though I want actually confront what he's actually said about the laws of physics and laws of gravity explaining the big bang. I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed this, but if it only took the law of gravity or laws of physics for the big bang to happen, where did they come from? 

Who created those rules? 

Who dreamt that up? 

Did they just 'appear' from nowhere and decide themselves?' 

They seems like obvious questions, but no one seems to be answering them - or even asking them. 

I mean that screws up his theory before its even got off the ground, yet some people will of course gravitate towards it and claim it instantly as fact. Incredible.

Now, to the deeper and more cultural implications of what Hawking said, how it connects with the Papal visit and what is says to us about church.

The more time goes on and we make more and more scientific discoveries about the nature of the universe, the more we know essentially, then in a secular consumer society the harder it will inevitably be to be a follower of Jesus. The more of a step of faith it may require to believe that there is a creator and a saviour who died and rose again to save us, because life will be - some will argue - totally explained by science (although they will continue to miss the obvious point that science provides no moral basis for living and that there are many Christian scientists) and we won't need to have as much faith in kind of recognised religion with a God that we can't see or scientifically prove exists.

The more we know, and the longer we live in a consumer/secular society, I believe the more people will simply see that its not enough. This is already beginning to a degree, the response to the Pope's visit alone said to me that with the collapse of the global market, capitalism, consumerism and the myth of secularism have been exposed as a sham. People are losing faith in those ideas. The longer time goes on, the more I believe people will begin to ask themselves this simple question:

'Is this it?'

Then they may start to look at creation with very different eyes, and maybe begin to understand that the scientific explanation of the universe may tell us something, but that there is something bigger going on, a purpose to all this.

One other thing I am convinced of too.

The more knowledge and less what is commonly termed 'faith' (although ultimately we are all people of faith, in one thing or another), that we see in our society, the more the message of Jesus will be communicated not just in words but in the lives of His followers. The more we know about the world, the more people will want to see a faith that results in real life change. People may hunger for an authentic life of discipleship, not just another thing to believe in or another hobby they do once a week. Not only that, but the more that those who teach the gospel will need to communicate creatively, innovatevly, in language & style that we can all understand and connect with.

They will want a church that can deliver. That's authentic.

Churches that are more religious and rule-based, which divide up the spiritual and physical, which practice a religious subculture, with 'Christian' this and that, and its own language - Christianese - will just become more and more disconnected from reality and ultimately will not grow from the outside. Because the gospel they preach, in my opinion, won't actually be the real gospel anyway. People may try them out, but ultimately they may be found wanting because they aren't embracing Jesus as a way of life that's integrated into the everyday, that relates to how we live here & now and the realities we all face, that's more concerned with going somewhere else than here.

In order to grow, the church may ultimately have to start seeking, practicing and pursuing authentic Christian discipleship, and be engaged with a God who wants us to bring heaven to earth now, into our everyday. Churches that will grow will be outward looking and engaged with the reality of the world around them and speaking their language, while staying true to the heart of the gospel. The challenge will always be to keep that message authentic, to be opening people's eyes to the God all around them and encourage true relationship and dialogue with this God, and asking people to carry their crosses daily.

So ultimately, the result of Hawking's discoveries may actually end up being the total opposite of what he thinks. 

Posted via email from James Prescott

Starting the discussion

Every so often I get one of those moments where I reassess everything and what I’m doing on the blog, or where I feel I want to reaffirm what I’m trying to achieve here and what this journey is all about. It’s something I think all of us need to do in whatever area or stage of life we’re in, as it helps us establish where we are and what story we’re telling - or not telling - in  our lives and set out where we want to go, what we want to achieve and above all the story we want to tell.

Blogs get a bad rep sometimes, and especially in the States. Often they can be a good place for cowards and Pharisees who have gripes with public figures to get their opinions out and complain. It can be a cheap and easy way for people with an opinion to express it, and say whatever they like, no matter how insulting or hurtful - or untrue.

However, at their best blogs can be places where we encounter people within their journeys and be inspired by them. They are places where we can connect with complex ideas in a simple and easy to understand way. They can be life-changing, thought provoking and move people to action. They can pose the difficult questions and start important discussions.

That’s what I’ve always tried to do here.

You see, I don’t want this blog to be ‘the final word’ on anything. 

I want it to be the first word. 

By that I mean, I don’t want the topic to be open and closed, and leave no room for discussion. For me what this blog - and anything creatively using words to communicate, like a speech, sermon or book - is about is starting a discussion.

That might be an individual discussion with God and dialogue with yourself or self-examination about what kind of life you are living, or about some dimension of your relationship with God, or how you view church. 

Or it might be that the blog speaks to something in your life you’ve been ignoring but need to deal with. Or something might give you a sense of calling that you hadn’t had, or help you start to face up to difficult issues in your life and walk with God.

It might be a discussion with a larger group of people or even with your church about how to move forward and actions you might need to take as a group of friends or a church community.

Whatever it is, my hope and prayer has always been that this will stimulate & inspire, encourage & challenge, and move people to action.

This isn’t one of those blogs that is all about me or my life, or what I did this morning or where I had lunch (there’s plenty of room for that on Twitter, if you’re so inclined). 

I may share stories from my own life or experience but they will merely be to point out wider and deeper truths. I may share resources that have helped me and try to connect others with that, but again, its only to help, support and encourage you and share with you something that has been useful on my journey.

This blog is about exploring & discovering what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in a secularised, consumer society. 

Its about exploring & reclaiming the heart of what it means to be & do church, and to be a Jesus follower. 

Its about opening people’s eyes to the God who is all around us wherever we care to look for Him.

If you are a regular reader, I would love for you to continue walking that journey with me, and if you haven’t been here before, to join me on that journey.

With God, you never know quite what’s round the corner.

Posted via email from James Prescott

The irony of secularists (or Why we're all religious)

With the Papal visit to the UK taking place this week, there has been much comment in the news about the state of the church, about the problems of religion (and by that they mean traditional organised religions - in particular Christianity) and why the Papal visit is wrong as only a minority have any religious faith.


Now many of these critics - in fact most of them - are what we called secularists. Secularism says that those of religious belief should be in a separate group of people, and although people should be free to express it they should keep it private and separate, and that governments should be free of religious input. Many secularists say that schools of religious faith are bad as they force religion on people from a young age, and think we should have schools which again encourage the distinction. Many secularists believe the scientific explanation of the world, and that something is only true if proven scientifically or historically, if there is hard evidence. They often believe we should all be educated as though these are facts, and that religions don't have evidence to support them so can be taught almost as alternative views to the world to their, correct, proven one. They believe they have the right to impose this view of the world on people because it’s the proven, correct one. Some are very aggressive and confrontational in their views, and are constantly attacking religious people for how wrong they are and criticising them at any turn, as they think they have that right given their opinions are in fact, proven facts.


Any of these types of thing sound familiar?


Dividing people into groups, looking inwards, trying to covert people to their point of view, sometimes agressively, have a system for funnelling their believes through and claim to have evidence for their beliefs. The very things that many of them accuse 'religious' people of doing. Interesting.

Now, lets look quickly at religion. 

Here are a couple of dictionary definitions of religion: 

'a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe'  

'a specific set of beliefs and practices generally agreed on by a number of persons or sects' 

The dictionary definitions do mention God, but only on general terms. It doesn't say they always have to involve some higher power or god of any kind whatsoever. So actually, when you look at the real definition of a religion, then essentially anyone who has any particular worldview, or opinion as to how we got here, or has any kind of belief in a way of life and a number of people agree with it, then its a religion. I'm guessing many of you know now that Jedi is now an official religion, as so many people have declared themselves such.

  

 

 

Well when you look at it that way, secularism sounds a lot like a religion, which would make its followers 'religious'. In fact, it pretty much means that all of us are religious in one way or another.


So back to secularism then. 


Secularism is in my opinion the religion of our culture. This religion has many gods. It tells us that we are gods, but in fact the real gods are multinational corporations, television and advertisers, all telling us what to think, what we need, how our lives are lacking and will be made complete by purchasing certain goods. We go to places of worship - shopping centres for example - and because we are decieved into thinking we're in control, and we are free of control from outside forces. We think we are living how we want, no rules or boundaries apart from ones we set for ourselves


Secularism encourages us all to be individuals and that we all have the right to do and live however we want, as long as its not illegal and doesn't hurt anyone else. Oh, and as long as its not morally wrong.


It has no real, authoritative evidence for where these morals originally came from, it claims they come from our human nature, or previous cultural backgrounds or through evolution. But it actually provides no moral compass or basis for living in itself, and even its supporters recognise this.


However, there are subdivisions of this worldview. One is called consumerism, which is almost a relgion in itself, it could be argued it is the evolution of secularism, or a denomination of secularism.


Secularism - and consumerism - ultimately says that although we all have rights and freedoms as human beings, our worth comes from what we produce, from our status, wealth, achievements, character and talents. We don't have any intrinsic value, we have freedoms and we should all have equality of opportunity and choice. But what happens on a cultural level is that this encourages individualism and ultimately consumerism. In the end the concept of community is lost, there is little trust, people become very cyncial and the gap between the better off and worse off gets bigger.


Sound familiar? Yep, that's the world we live in ladies and gentlemen. Secularism is so great that a culture which is essentially founded on it is falling apart.


Not for me thanks. 


Now, onto the way of Jesus, the Christian faith/worldview.


As I have said before, much to common misconception (even by some of its members), the way of Jesus is not a religion or religious system in itself, and you can't try to control or explain it fully through a systematic theology. Religion and theology will help explain it, in theory and concept, but it is not the boundary of it. Its not the practice of the Christian faith, its can't explain God fully and is merely about the theory. It helps us see in part, but not fully. Obviously with the definition of religion used above then Christianity is a religion. But the religion of Christianity is merely the theory, it is the concept of the Christian faith that we try to live.


Religion is a way to explore and understand the Christian faith, but it cannot fully explain it. It doesn't cover everything that the Christian faith and following Jesus is about. 


Put it this way, religion is part of the Christian faith. But its only part of it.


Christian faith isn't just a set of beliefs about the universe. Its not just a set of practices or rules. If that's all it is, then it's just a club. Its just something you do as part of your life. That's the view of faith secularists have and encourage and that has become more and more prevalent even in some churches and Christians. 


That, friends, is not what Jesus talks about in the Bible, its not what the scriptures speak of and its not what the early church modelled at all. This view encourages the view that there are distinctions between physical (bad) and spiritual (good), and that heaven and earth are separate places, and that heaven is somewhere we go where we die.


Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that if we believe in Jesus then when we die we go to heaven, and that that place is somewhere else. 


It doesn't say that. 


Yet somehow we've got this idea in our heads, 


Let me explain this a bit, because this gets to the heart of the Christian message. The concept of Christianity as a set of rules we follow, and about us believing the right things so we go to heaven when we die (heard that before), is partially encouraged and even in one sense supports secularism but it also in Christian circles comes from a concept of faith which ignores how God originally made the world and starts with the fall. This way of seeing faith essentially begins the story in Genesis 3 with the fall and separation of heaven and earth. It ignores Genesis 1 & 2, where there is no distinction between heaven and earth, they are the same place. Everything is created good, not perfect, and given the ability to make more of itself. Human beings are invited to be co-creators and participators in God's plan for the world. In Revelation when Jesus comes back we see this in action. What started as a garden has become a city - a collection of gardens.


In this view, then what Jesus says about the kingdom of Heaven being here and now makes more sense. It makes the miracles have more sense, every time Jesus is showing them what the kingdom of Heaven is like. Endless provision. No death or sickness. In each act Jesus is bringing a sign - John even calls them as such - of what it will be when heaven and earth are the same place again. Paul talks about the cross being about Jesus reconciling to God all things in Heaven and earth. The literal translation reads 'all things'. The New Testament has several verses about the restoration of all things, reconciliation of all things and renewal of all things. Once again, all things means, literally, all things.


So there is no split worldview. 


Heaven is a separate place right now, but only until Jesus returns. Following Jesus then is accepting the invitation through the cross to join in the great restoration project of God for heaven and earth, and playing our role in that. Its bringing the way of Jesus into our everyday, and seeing Jesus in the everyday, the common, the creation, the physical, in anything. It removes the need for the 'Christian' label - all music, art, created things have a glimpse of God in them and God can be found in all of them. 


The action isn't somewhere else, its here.


This might help explain it further. In Old Testament times before Jesus, people could only hear from God through Priests, who were the only people allowed in the presence of God, behind the temple curtain.


However, when Jesus died the temple curtain was torn in two. It allowed the presence of God out, and broke down boundaries between God, His people and His creation. It allowed us to be able to meet personally with God and to see and experience Him in anything, anyone, anywhere, if we are only looking for Him. 


The cross was about restoring all things to how they were in the beginning, when Heaven and earth were the same place, where there was perfect harmony between man and God. Every act is a spiritual act, everything is spiritual, God can be found anywhere.
Every time we do something which reflects the nature of God - even if we don't believe in Him - brings a bit of heaven to earth. Every time someone chooses the way of Jesus, it brings a bit of heaven to earth.


There is no distinction.


And God calls us not to do this alone, but in community. There are numerous 'one anothers' in the gospels. Jesus says to love one another - and ultimately, if everyone does this, then we will never be in need, we will never have to fear and we can all live at peace together. In harmony with each other and God - and the Bible says that's how it ultmately will be. So then there will ultimately only be one 'religion' and it won't be a religion as we use the term today. 


It will just be how things are.


The role of church is, in this context, to reflect this to the outside world, to model this to the rest of creation and to be outward looking. Loving one another by definition means a church has to be outward looking, mission focussed, community focussed. It needs to be opening people's minds and hearts about how to see Jesus in the everyday and how better to bring Jesus into their every day, and be Jesus to the people around them. The role of church is to be a collective outpouring of this type of faith into the community around it, and to provide a support network, a place to be discipled, trained and encouraged in how to follow Jesus and discover Him in their everyday, about how to be Jesus in the everyday and how to see Him in the everyday. To break down the barriers in our communities that society has put up. Not emphasising our differences, not preaching at people and telling them what they aren't, but demonstrating with their actions that they have a different view of the world, that there is a better way to live and see the world. Showing people who they really are and that they are loved, valued and accepted as they are, where they are, and demonstrating that through our actions - both big and small.


The way of Jesus is about love, community, trust, serving, forgiveness, justice, grace and putting the other first. It is about non-violence, peace, and tells us that we all have a role to play in the restoration of the world to how it was originally intended.
It tells us we all have infinite and inherent worth from the moment of conception, without any stutus, talent or achievement. That no matter who we are or whatever our background or history, we all have inherent value and worth, and even if the worst happens we are never alone. It encourages us to take responsibility, but provides support, comfort and forgievness when we are in need or have messed up.


Religion can only partially explain this. The religion of Christianity helps us understand God better and know what the core beliefs around the way of Jesus are. Just like science explains the how of the universe and understand dimensions of God's creation.


But it cannot fully explain away the way of Jesus or the message of Jesus. It has boundaries, it's limited. God has no boundaries or limits apart from those He sets for Himself. And no matter how vast our imaginations are, we will never be able to fully explain or understand God completely, no matter what label we put on Him. Religion can tell us facts about God and about what followers of Jesus believe. But it can't fully comprehend, understand or explain them. 


That's why when secularists and the like criticise the church or religion they miss the point. Christians and followers of Jesus - the church - aren't God. They aren't Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They are people who are trying to follow them, and by definition aren't perfect. The church do need to be better witnesses to our faith, and live our the true Christian life, not the boxed up, legalistic, tradition and cultural-based version of it. And the secularists and critics need to look beyond the church to the heart of the message of Jesus. The values of love, peace, justice, mercy and forgiveness. Those are at the core of the kind of world Jesus wants us to live in and bring to this world.


Finally of course, secularists need to have their eyes opened to the irony of their comments.


Secularism is a religion, and the dominant religious worldview of our culture and has been for decades.


Given the breakdown of community, rise in crime, increasing division and cynicism in our culture and above all the breakdown of families, increases in divorce rates and single parent families, and the continuing huge gap between rich and poor in our culture in that time, and the increasing lack of any moral compass in our culture, I would say its not really working. Would you?


In my opinion there is a much better way which makes much more sense. People just need to open their eyes to see it.

Posted via email from James Prescott

The irony of secularists

With the Papal visit to the UK taking place this week, there has been much comment in the news about the state of the church, about the problems of religion (and by that they mean traditional organised religions - in particular Christianity) and why the Papal visit is wrong as only a minority have any religious faith.


Now many of these critics - in fact most of them - are what we called secularists. Secularism says that those of religious belief should be in a separate group of people, and although people should be free to express it they should keep it private and separate, and that governments should be free of religious input. Many secularists say that schools of religious faith are bad as they force religion on people from a young age, and think we should have schools which again encourage the distinction. Many secularists belief the scientific view of the world, and that something is only true if proven scientifically or historically, if there is hard evidence, and believe we should all be educated as though these are facts, and that religions don't have evidence to support them so can be taught almost as alternative views to the world to their, correct, proven one. They believe they have the right to impose this view of the world on people because it’s the proven, correct one. Some are very aggressive and confrontational in their views, and are constantly attacking religious people for how wrong they are and criticising them at any turn, as they think they have that right given their opinions are in fact, proven facts.


Any of these types of thing sound familiar?


Dividing people into groups, looking inwards, trying to covert people to their point of view, sometimes agressively, have a system for funnelling their believes through and claim to have evidence for their beliefs. The very things that many of them accuse 'religious' people of doing. Interesting.

Now, lets look quickly at religion. 

Here are a couple of dictionary definitions of religion: 

'a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe'  

'a specific set of beliefs and practices generally agreed on by a number of persons or sects' 

The dictionary definitions do mention God, but only on general terms. It doesn't say they always have to involve some higher power or god of any kind whatsoever. So actually, when you look at the real definition of a religion, then essentially anyone who has any particular worldview, or opinion as to how we got here, or has any kind of belief in a way of life and a number of people agree with it, then its a religion. I'm guessing many of you know now that Jedi is now an official religion, as so many people have declared themselves such.

  

Well when you look at it that way, secularism sounds a lot like a religion, which would make its followers 'religious'. In fact, it pretty much means that all of us are religious in one way or another.

So back to secularism then. 

Secularism is in my opinion the religion of our culture. This religion has many gods. It tells us that we are gods, but in fact the real gods are multinational corporations, television and advertisers, all telling us what to think, what we need, how our lives are lacking and will be made complete by purchasing certain goods. We go to places of worship - shopping centres for example - and because we are decieved into thinking we're in control, and we are free of control from outside forces. We think we are living how we want, no rules or boundaries apart from ones we set for ourselves

Secularism encourages us all to be individuals and that we all have the right to do and live however we want, as long as its not illegal and doesn't hurt anyone else. Oh, and as long as its not morally wrong.

It has no real, authoritative evidence for where these morals originally came from, it claims they come from our human nature, or previous cultural backgrounds or through evolution. But it actually provides no moral compass or basis for living in itself, and even its supporters recognise this.

However, there are subdivisions of this worldview. One is called consumerism, which is almost a relgion in itself, it could be argued it is the evolution of secularism, or a denomination of secularism.

Secularism - and consumerism - ultimately says that although we all have rights and freedoms as human beings, our worth comes from what we produce, from our status, wealth, achievements, character and talents. We don't have any intrinsic value, we have freedoms and we should all have equality of opportunity and choice. But what happens on a cultural level is that this encourages individualism and ultimately consumerism. In the end the concept of community is lost, there is little trust, people become very cyncial and the gap between the better off and worse off gets bigger.

Sound familiar? Yep, that's the world we live in ladies and gentlemen. Secularism is so great that a culture which is essentially founded on it is falling apart.

Not for me thanks. 


Now, onto the way of Jesus, the Christian faith/worldview.

As I have said before, much to common misconception (even by some of its members), the way of Jesus is not a religion or religious system, and you can't try to control or explain it fully through a systematic theology. That will help explain it, but it is not the boundary of it. Obviously with the definition of religion used above then Christianity is a religion. But the religion of Christianity is merely an idea, it is the concept of the Christian faith that we try to live.

Religion is a way to explore and understand the Christian faith, but it cannot fully explain it. It doesn't cover everything that the Christian faith and following Jesus is about. 

Put it this way, religion is part of the Christian faith. But its only part of it.

Christian faith isn't just a set of beliefs about the universe. Its not just a set of practices or rules. If that's all it is, then it's just a club. Its just something you do as part of your life. That's the view of faith secularists have and encourage and that has become more and more prevalent even in some churches and Christians. 


That, friends, is not what Jesus talks about in the Bible, its not what the scriptures speak of and its not what the early church modelled at all. This view encourages the view that there are distinctions between physical (bad) and spiritual (good), and that heaven and earth are separate places, and that heaven is somewhere we go where we die.


Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that if we believe in Jesus then when we die we go to heaven, and that that place is somewhere else. 


It doesn't say that. 


Yet somehow we've got this idea in our heads, 


Let me explain this a bit, because this gets to the heart of the Christian message. The concept of Christianity as a set of rules we follow, and about us believing the right things so we go to heaven when we die (heard that before), is partially encouraged and even in one sense supports secularism but it also in Christian circles comes from a concept of faith which ignores how God originally made the world and starts with the fall. This way of seeing faith essentially begins the story in Genesis 3 with the fall and separation of heaven and earth. It ignores Genesis 1 & 2, where there is no distinction between heaven and earth, they are the same place. Everything is created good, not perfect, and given the ability to make more of itself. Human beings are invited to be co-creators and participators in God's plan for the world. In Revelation when Jesus comes back we see this in action. What started as a garden has become a city - a collection of gardens.


In this view, then what Jesus says about the kingdom of Heaven being here and now makes more sense. It makes the miracles have more sense, every time Jesus is showing them what the kingdom of Heaven is like. Endless provision. No death or sickness. In each act Jesus is bringing a sign - John even calls them as such - of what it will be when heaven and earth are the same place again. Paul talks about the cross being about Jesus reconciling to God all things in Heaven and earth. The literal translation reads 'all things'. The New Testament has several verses about the restoration of all things, reconciliation of all things and renewal of all things. Once again, all things means, literally, all things.


So there is no split worldview. 


Heaven is a separate place right now, but only until Jesus returns. Following Jesus then is accepting the invitation through the cross to join in the great restoration project of God for heaven and earth, and playing our role in that. Its bringing the way of Jesus into our everyday, and seeing Jesus in the everyday, the common, the creation, the physical, in anything. It removes the need for the 'Christian' label - all music, art, created things have a glimpse of God in them and God can be found in all of them. 


The action isn't somewhere else, its here.


This might help explain it further. In Old Testament times before Jesus, people could only hear from God through Priests, who were the only people allowed in the presence of God, behind the temple curtain.

However, when Jesus died the temple curtain was torn in two. It allowed the presence of God out, and broke down boundaries between God, His people and His creation. It allowed us to be able to meet personally with God and to see and experience Him in anything, anyone, anywhere, if we are only looking for Him. 

The cross was about restoring all things to how they were in the beginning, when Heaven and earth were the same place, where there was perfect harmony between man and God. Every act is a spiritual act, everything is spiritual, God can be found anywhere.
Every time we do something which reflects the nature of God - even if we don't believe in Him - brings a bit of heaven to earth. Every time someone chooses the way of Jesus, it brings a bit of heaven to earth.

There is no distinction.

And God calls us not to do this alone, but in community. There are numerous 'one anothers' in the gospels. Jesus says to love one another - and ultimately, if everyone does this, then we will never be in need, we will never have to fear and we can all live at peace together. In harmony with each other and God - and the Bible says that's how it ultmately will be. So then there will ultimately only be one 'religion' and it won't be a religion as we use the term today. 

It will just be how things are.

The role of church is, in this context, to reflect this to the outside world, to model this to the rest of creation and to be outward looking. Loving one another by definition means a church has to be outward looking, mission focussed, community focussed. It needs to be opening people's minds and hearts about how to see Jesus in the everyday and how better to bring Jesus into their every day, and be Jesus to the people around them. The role of church is to be a collective outpouring of this type of faith into the community around it, and to provide a support network, a place to be discipled, trained and encouraged in how to follow Jesus and discover Him in their everyday, about how to be Jesus in the everyday and how to see Him in the everyday. To break down the barriers in our communities that society has put up. Not emphasising our differences, not preaching at people and telling them what they aren't, but demonstrating with their actions that they have a different view of the world, that there is a better way to live and see the world. Showing people who they really are and that they are loved, valued and accepted as they are, where they are, and demonstrating that through our actions - both big and small.


The way of Jesus is about love, community, trust, serving, forgiveness, justice, grace and putting the other first. It is about non-violence, peace, and tells us that we all have a role to play in the restoration of the world to how it was originally intended.
It tells us we all have infinite and inherent worth from the moment of conception, without any stutus, talent or achievement. That no matter who we are or whatever our background or history, we all have inherent value and worth, and even if the worst happens we are never alone. It encourages us to take responsibility, but provides support, comfort and forgievness when we are in need or have messed up.

Religion can only partially explain this. The religion of Christianity helps us understand God better and know what the core beliefs around the way of Jesus are. Just like science explains the how of the universe and understand dimensions of God's creation.

But it cannot fully explain away the way of Jesus or the message of Jesus. It has boundaries, it's limited. God has no boundaries or limits apart from those He sets for Himself. And no matter how vast our imaginations are, we will never be able to fully explain or understand God completely, no matter what label we put on Him. Religion can tell us facts about God and about what followers of Jesus believe. But it can't fully comprehend, understand or explain them. 

That's why when secularists and the like criticise the church or religion they miss the point. Christians and followers of Jesus - the church - aren't God. They aren't Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They are people who are trying to follow them, and by definition aren't perfect. The church do need to be better witnesses to our faith, and live our the true Christian life, not the boxed up, legalistic, tradition and cultural-based version of it. And the secularists and critics need to look beyond the church to the heart of the message of Jesus. The values of love, peace, justice, mercy and forgiveness. Those are at the core of the kind of world Jesus wants us to live in and bring to this world.


Finally of course, secularists need to have their eyes opened to the irony of their comments.


Secularism is a religion, and the dominant religious worldview of our culture and has been for decades.

Given the breakdown of community, rise in crime, increasing division and cynicism in our culture and above all the breakdown of families, increases in divorce rates and single parent families, and the continuing huge gap between rich and poor in our culture in that time, and the increasing lack of any moral compass in our culture, I would say its not really working. Would you?

In my opinion there is a much better way which makes much more sense. People just need to open their eyes to see it.

Posted via email from James Prescott

Stop. Breathe.

As regular readers know I have become very interested in the idea of Sabbath and concepts of rest recently, and am doing some research into the whole topic. I know this sounds a bit obvious, but think the more I am thinking about it, the more I am noticing things I hadn't noticed in regards to this issue, and these are things I think that very few of us really notice (or maybe we all do, and its just me...). Even at church, I am noticing that in a place that's meant to be on a day of rest, a time to reconnect with God, that it's just as busy and hectic and a rush hour journey or day at work. 

So little time for peace and rest.

Little time to stop and breathe.

In the last couple of days I've been reading about the 'Reclaim your brain' series over in the US (see http://www.reclaimseries.com/ ). What they do is try to train people in neurofeedback, a way of slowing down your brain and still being very sharp and alert. Slowing down the pace your brain works, and being at total peace, but still having your brain fully alert and able to work. It has also been proven to lessen the number of epileptic fits in people like me who are epileptic. 

We live in a consumer society where the pace of life is relentless. What happens is we get so used to living at that hectic pace, we think its normal and our brains start to think it's normal. So what happens is even when we think we're resting our brain and even our heart rate isn't actually in a state of proper rest. Its no surprise that in today's culture there are more heart attacks happening to those with no record of heart disease, more cases of stress, anxiety and mental illness of various kinds than ever. Its because we aren't resting properly, we're pushing ourselves too much and retraining our brains to work too fast.

We burn a lot of energy through worry, anxiety, stress, depression, anger - a lot of it unnecessary which we get used to thinking is 'normal' in order to work normally. We get our brains trained so much that it becomes part of our subconscious, our brains just think its normal so even when we're relaxing our heart is beating too fast and our brain is working too fast, and a lot of unnecessary energy is being used. 

The key is to reach this 'sweet spot' where you're so relaxed like you are when you are having a nap or just coming out of a nap, almost like sleeping, but you have all the energy where that stress and anxiety was, and are fully awake. So therefore you suddenly have so much more energy for the rest of life.

This is how our brains were meant to work. 

Our breathing and heart rate need to be in line with our brain waves, and often they aren't. Breathing is such an important thing to get right. Many of us breath from our chest, instead of how we are meant to breath, which is something called diaphragmatic breathing, breathing from your diaphragm. At rest  - when we're sitting down, relaxing - we are only meant to breath around 12 times per minute.

Think about that.

That's one breath every 5 seconds.

Doesn't seem like a lot, but try it. Here's a little challenge for you. 

Stop. Breathe. As you do, listen count how long your breaths are, and look where you are breathing from.

For optimum energy and health, we're meant to breath from lower down, not from our chest as many of us do. We often do that through sheer necessity and because it feels more 'normal' and allows us to get lots of breath in quickly. But actually, to get more energy we're meant to breath from lower down, and more slowly. We can train our bodies to do this, given time and practice.

I have tried this recently, and I have noticed even in small amounts how often I have more energy, feel more relaxed and peaceful. The trick is being able to maintain your optimum brain performance at work, but still have slower, more peaceful rhythm to your brain work and taking slightly longer, deeper breaths. Letting go of all the anxiety and worry and stress - all of which are unnecessary in reality - and using that energy to work, to perform to deal with all the things we have to face up to, with more energy and focus, and feeling a lot more rested.

But of course there is a connection between this and our relationship with God. One interesting thing - in the scriptures, the word for breath is the same word as the word for spirit. There is no distinction between the physical and spiritual. In every breath, we are essentially breathing in God, and breathing out all the things in our lives we don't need.

You see we are integrated beings, 100% spiritual, 100% physical, and all of it is interconnected. I personally believe that this principle of sabbath and rest in the scriptures, the seventh day which God declared Holy - notice the first thing God declares Holy is a day or period of rest - is totally connected with the state of our physical body and our brains. To have this time of Sabbath we need to engage with these issues and retrain our bodies to slow down. Getting rid of the excess energy - stress, anxiety, worry, anger - is a lot easier when your security is in God, and you have a relationship with a God who can help us deal with these kind of things. Because you have somewhere, someone, who you can unload this on to, who is big enough to take it and who can help us deal with it.

We need to recognise that these things - stress, anxiety, worry - are not normal, they aren't healthy. But fundamentally we need to realise why these things are happening.

Its because on some subconscious level we are, usually as we grow up, putting our security and value and worth in something other than God, - money, relationships, friends, family, work, achievement, status - and we aren't learning about the art of rest. 

Its so easy to do. 

I know that thing things that happened to me when I was younger have shaped me and still do. I know I have insecurities and fears and I know where these come from, and the point is that I need to recognise they are just insecurities and fears. They aren't based in the reality that God made me, Jesus died and rose for me and loves me more than I can ever know or understand - without my achievements, gifts, status, finances, without anything. God loves me just because He does and will provide for all my needs. He will always be faithful, He will never give up on me, He will discipline me when I need it and encourage me when I need it. He knows me better than I do and will not abandon me, despite all the ways I let Him down.

So I can choose to live according to my insecurities, worries, fears and stresses - or I can live according to the reality of what God says about me and what He's done for me. It doesn't mean I won't have insecurities and fears, but it means that I can control them, that I can let them go and ignore them, in God's strength. I can choose either to live by them, or to surrender them and live according to what God has said.

I can choose to live the consumer life, at a high pace, and equate value with busyness, with success and status, and over-worry about what others say about me (most of whom don't know me). 

Or I can choose to slow down my mind and my body.

To take deep breaths

to breathe in more oxygen, and at the same to breathe in more of God

and to breathe out all the things I don't need.

Its not easy, and it takes time. I'm still learning how to do this, and I am genuinely excited by learning more and more about the art and discipline of rest and trying to put this into practice in my own life.

But its what we need to do, if we are to be fully human in the way God designed us.

 

 

Posted via email from James Prescott

Would Jesus burn books?

I'm guessing many of you have heard the recent news about the Pastor over in the US who has decided the best way to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 was to burn loads of copies of the Koran (Read the story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11223457 ). Politicians, public figures and religious leaders worldwide have spoken out against the decision made by this pastor, including Christians - and I believe they have every justification to do so.

However, I'm not going to sit here and pronounce judgement. It would be very easy to accuse this pastor of being judgemental, unloving, and attack him for the damage this could potentially do for the name of Jesus. I mean, frankly, I don't believe what he's doing is what Jesus would do, and doesn't demonstrate the way of Jesus at all. I think it just make things worth. 

But that's my opinion.

Let me make this clear, its not my job to judge him.

That's God's job, not mine.

Even though I fundamentally disagree with this man, there is a chance that beyond this one action, that God is somehow at work in his church. Therefore any criticism I make - especially given I'm not perfect either - is criticism of someone God is using in some way, which in the Bible is called blasphemy.

This guy will have to give an account to God for what he's doing, and that should be enough for all of us. I need to trust God, not to 'deal with him as I would', but to be just  - because Jesus died for him too, and he believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus just as I do. I need to let go of my need to control, criticise or condemn this guy, and make sure I examine my own planks before I start looking at others specks.

I will say this though.

If it had been me, and I was going to do something to commemorate 9/11, instead of burning books I would have done the following:

First, I'd hold a prayer meeting in our church for all the families of the victims of 9/11, and for all those affected by the war, to which I would have invited local Muslims, although making it clear it was a Christian prayer meeting. I would then have the church host a meal either on church grounds or on neutral territory like a restaurant, and invited everyone in the church and all the Muslims in the area. I'd encourage the people of my church and the Muslims to sit next to each other and talk to each other. I would have then said publicly to the Muslims that any time they wanted to visit our church, they were welcome, even if they didn't believe what we did.  Not only that, but long-term I'd meet with all the religious leaders of the area, including Muslim leaders, figure out what values we have in common and in light of that what we can do to best serve our community.  Personally I think that's the kind of thing I think Jesus would have done.

But hey, that's just me. You come to your own conclusions.

Posted via email from James Prescott

Time for silence

Today I was taking the train home from work, a different route to normal due to the tube strike in London, and obviously therefore much busier than normal. I didn't have my i-pod on for once and I had the most bizarre - and undeniably profound - experiences I've had. I was literally squashed like a sardine with lots of people on the train, standing room only. 

But almost all of them were talking.

There was a bunch of school friends all talking over each other, a few work colleagues or friends chatting away and others talking on the phone. It was almost like I was the only silent person on the train. It was genuinely bizarre.

But I've been studying a lot about The Sabbath recently, and about the art of creating space in time to rest and disconnect. On Saturday I went on a pilgramage to a monastic community and spent time in pure quiet, in a prayer garden so quiet and distant from the rest of the world you could literally hear the silence.

Maybe it was because these things have been on my mind recently, but I couldn't help just how much noise there was - how many people talking, 

over and to each other, 

on the phone, 

all busy with their own lives. 

All full of adrenaline from the busyness of life. 

I couldn't help but feel pity. I kept thinking to myself, "Is this what our lives have been reduced to? Just everyone wanting their say all the time, scared of disconnecting, addicted to the adrenaline rush of life?"

and above all,

scared of the silence of their souls. 

Scared to stop, to rest, to disconnect. Scared to be silent. 

Because they are afraid in the silence that no one will be listening, no one will be there, that they will be all alone and have no value. That they might not like what happens when they are forced to examine and listen to their own souls. Or listen to God. The culture we live in tells us that we are machines, that we need to be on the go 24/7 and keep working to achieve more - money, status, success, and that if we stop then we might miss out on something. It tells us we need more and that status and success is what matters, that what we look like matters, and that our value is tied up in all these things. Our value in life is defined by how busy we are - with both work and socially. So we spend a lot of time, energy and money building up that life for ourselves.

In the midst of that, there's no time for silence. 

People become scared to stop, because they are scared of what's inside them. 

Scared of being alone. 

Afraid to face their insecurities and fears. Maybe they have nowhere to go with them.

If you don't know God, silence can be a very lonely and scary place, where your mind can get the better of you given enough time. That's probably why mental health issues are on the rise, why more people see counsellors and suffer from depression than ever before. People simply can't deal with what's going inside of them. However this fear of silence isn't limited to non-Christians, in my experience Christians are just as much afraid of silence as non-Christians - but for different reasons.

For example, I know I can be scared of silence. But its because I can get scared of what God might have to say to me, that it might be something I don't like, something uncomfortable.

But I am learning that silence is one of the most important disciplines we can have in our lives. 

We need it.

We can't live without it.

It allows us to examine ourselves, bring those things before a loving heavenly father and allow Him to speak truth and love into those things.

God is in the silence. 

Nobody has to have any fear of silence, if they know God. God speaks into the silence, He tells us what we need to hear, He tells us the truth. He gives us love, strength and peace. He reminds us that the world can go on without us, but above all He reminds of something that we all need to hear...

...that we are not alone, and that we are loved and accepted just as we are.

Without status, money or achievement.

We are loved.

Are you afraid of the silence? Are you always too busy for silence? Do you find yourself so busy you have no time for God to speak to you, no time to disconnect?

I want to encourage you. Challenge you even.

Take some time. Make some time in your life for silence, and in that time, ask God to speak to you. Ask God to speak to you through and in the silence, and bring to Him all the things you don't want anyone else to see, fears, doubts, insecurities. Allow Him to speak His truth and love into your life.

Be still. Be silent.

And know that He is God.

 

 

Posted via email from James Prescott

Are you a 'Hipster Christian'?

One thing I want to do on this site is promote the sites of other bloggers I know and read, and websites and resources I have found which might be helpful. I have several friends who blog, and one who has just started blogging. In the next few weeks and months I'll be promoting their blogs and some other sites I've found helpful, they should all appear in the links on one of my sites - all of them will be at 'evolving church'.

Today I want to just briefly mention a topic I'm going to write about in more depth soon but which God's really been challenging me about, a new book and website which will really speak to many of us.

The book is called 'Hipster Christianity: Where church and cool collide' by Brett McCracken and the website is at http://www.hipsterchristianity.com/index.php. 

The essential premise is one of examining how essentially in trying to become relevant and 'hip' the church may have lost some of the truth of its message, creating a generation of Christians who are all cool and hip, but don't have as much substance to their faith. He lists some common traits amongst these people, Apparently some traits of Hipster Christians are liking anything Apple, reading the likes of Rob Bell, Don Miller and Brian McClaren, really into creativity, passionate about social justice and like quoting or reading Bonhoeffer. Obviously there's no blanket 'one-size fits all' definition, some may not like Apple but be crazy about social justice, some may read one author but not the other - there are actually four types of Hipster Christian he describes - all of which are scarily accurate. I actually laughed out loud at how much I saw myself and many friends in some of these stereotypes. Scary...

The scary thing is though that some of these things sound uncomfortably familiar. 

Honestly, does any of that sound familiar to you? Check out the four types on the website, trust me its scary how accurate they are.

On the website there is a link to a few articles McCracken has written on the subject, but far more uncomfortable is the quiz http://www.hipsterchristianity.com/quiz.php where you answer 30 questions (doesn't take long actually) and it tells you how much of a Hipster Christian you are in terms of a percentage.

I leave you to check out the website, do the quiz and have a little reflection on this. I will be back with my thoughts on the subject in due course (that is, once I've dumped all my Apple hardware, bought some different books and become a Christian fundamentalist)...

 

 

Posted via email from James Prescott