HandmadePeople

There exist in this universe a power. A fundamental power, a logic, a wisdom, a logos. This power is what Paul tried to capture as the thing  "...in which we live and move and have our being." Paul of Tarsus was not the first to try to give substance to this power. For aeons people have spoken and written and sung about this power, this power which lies at the centre of everything, this power that is the "ground of our being."

In the old testament we find a culture which predominantly used the archetype of 'father' as their way to describe and understand this life giving and animating power. Later Jesus developed the metaphor with 'Abba' (daddy) and offered himself and his life as the true likeness of this oh so difficult to pin down power. It is what we call God.

Jesus says;

 Everything was created and is sustained by God

He is the way to this God and to life...

If you do as he does and die to self you will come into contact with God and real abundant life...

When you do the power of his love will transform you...

 His love will grow the kingdom of God inside you...

Rome was the 'best' human culture could offer, second temple Judaism was the 'best' human religion could offer but together they still executed an innocent man.

Mark 1

Son of a builder

but the demons know his name;

Son of man, The Christ.

Mark 2

‘Little child’ stands in

the dust of a broken roof.

His sins forgiven.

Mark 3

Satan v. Satan?

The strongman’s house is plundered.

Beelzebub is bound.

Mark 4

The Word must bear fruit.

Thirty, sixty, hundred times.

Your sins are forgiven. So Jesus says. Your sins are forgiven. Not forgiven if you do this or that or believe this or that but your sins ARE forgiven! They were forgiven before you even thought about it, before you even heard of Jesus. The grace God offers is not connected to what you do, think or believe. God has decided, because he can, to forgive you. Salvation is therefore not a switch, button or lever which when activated grants you entry into heaven, but is more like a seed or a shoot or an ecosystem which grows and transforms within you.

Accepting this and living into the knowledge thatwe are forgiven is what timulates the growth. The accompanying transformation then starts to form the kind of person who will fit heaven, a place of humility, peace and love. It births an eternal kind of life in you, an indistrctable kind of life that will continue into the age to come. This kind of life will live through the refining flames and live on.

Best practice for effective faith formation in Adolescents

Socialisation and religious experience

Belonging and meaning

Spiritual disciplines and contemplation

Participation and leadership

Nutures and equips parents

Variety

 Our practices do not fall short of our beliefs; they are our beliefs. Our practices are the concrete, material expression of what we really believe. Or our outer world is not something that needs to be brought into line with our inner world but is an expression of it.

Some recent research on religion and spirituality out of Australia has thrown up a few interesting points. When asked what attracted them to faith and what repelled them from faith, people came up with quite unexpected answers. Well the answers are unexpected from a Christian perspective but then that probably tells it’s own story.

I think the answers have quite profound implications for individual Christians and for the modern church. So what turned people on and what caused them to tune out? Here are the responses;

So how can this information be applied to modern Christianity and the efforts of the church to engage with contemporary, secular culture?

The most powerfully attractive force was seeing people who live out a genuine faith. Application? Preach the gospel and if necessary use words. Walk the walk.

The next most important factor which attracts people towards faith is a personal trauma or life event. The church should be a radical servant to the community. Would the church be Christ-like enough to sacrifice itself?

The third attractional force is hearing about how faith has changed people. Let’s spend less time inviting people to sign up to doctrines, creeds or a list of beliefs, and more time considering ‘does it work?’ What is the point of a doctrine or a belief if it makes no practical difference to your life. Jesus was all about fruits.

And what of the replant forces? If we are honest we as a church may have been relying on these things too much.

Apologetics, defending the faith through reasoned argument, can come across as arrogant and intolerant. You can win an argument and lose a person. Be a friend and listener first.

Miraculous stories of healing can leave many people cold and struggling with the nagging question ‘why them not me?’ Instead concentrate on the miracle of transformation in your heart through the power of the risen Christ. I was once...but now I....

or how to drop the work and start a friendship.

Recently I have been challenged by the story of a UK youth worker (James Vaughton) who decided to quit his job as a youth worker and spend his time investing in his own children and just one or two young people in his church. No more time organising social get-togethers, sending and answering emails, collecting permission slips, planning and preparing relevant, interactive bible studies. No this youth worker has courageously put his money where his heart is and is actually living the youth work mantra ‘People not programmes.’

HEADLINES. LGBT people twice as likely to make a suicide attempt.

Three times more likely to suffer from depression.

Self harm among LGBT people runs at 50% but only between 1 in 15 and 1 in 10 among heterosexual people.

http://lgbt.foundation/About-us/media/facts-and-figures/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/19/young-transgender-suicide-attempts-survey

Is it possible that using the bible to oppress and exclude LGBT people is contributing to this ‘observable harm?’ Would Jesus stand for it or would he see these statistics as an offence against love, care and compassion? Are these horrible statistics the ‘fruits’ of years of using the bible to clobber people? ‘You shall know a prophet by his fruits..’ The way of unquestioning obedience to the words on the pages of the bible have produced rotten fruit.

If you are looking for stimulation by the pool this summer then may I suggest these six beauties.

Honest to God. Written in the 60s by the bishop of Woolwich, this is an early clarion call for a change in the ways we talk about God.

Simply Good News and Surprised by Hope. Two crackers from one of the countries leading New Testament scholars. In Simply Good News we find cuddly old uncle Tom challenging our understanding of the ‘Gospel’ and asking what is the news and what makes it good? In Surprised by Hope he waxes lyrical about ‘life after,life after death’ and no that is not a typo!

A Gift of Love is a collection of sermons by Martin Luther King Jr. and gives an outstanding exploration of what it means to resist evil non-violently as Jesus did.

In a similar vein, Derek Flood’s Disarming Scripture takes a fresh look at violence in the bible and encourages us to not only read the bible through the Jesus lens, but to interpret it the way Jesus did. Flood takes a ‘trajectory’ approach which argues that the bible reveals a progressive development of thinking and morality which Jesus first embodies,then encourages us to take onward ourselves. Best book I have read this year.

Or maybe not...War With Russia is a fantastic story of daring-do and political maneuvering set in the very near future and describes a war with....well...a war with Russia. Very convincing and terrifyingly plausible. The kind of thing you read in a couple of days.

What is the function of Easter? Simple huh! It means a lot. A lot more than I could write here and a lot more than I could ever understand. All I know is it makes a big difference to me.

John 20 twice mentions that the resurrection took place on the first day of the week. John, being a bit clever, seems to have organised his gospel as a series of seven signs (wine, healing, healing, feeding, walking, healing, raising) which look somewhat like a week. The eighth sign was the Jesus’ resurrection, the first day of a new week. Easter functions as the beginning of the new creation, in a garden just like where it all began. As Tom Wright puts it “The Word through whom all things were made is now the Word through whom all things are remade.

Rank order of what church youth workers talk about...

The basics of the christian faith

personal reading of the bible

personal prayer

family life

poverty and social injustice

sharing faith with friends

service to the church or community

social media and internet

opportunities for leadership

TV and films

Prep for school/college/uni transition

mental health and self esteem

discipling others

sex and relationships

drugs and addiction

other world faiths

same sex attraction

porn

Rank order of what church youth wants to talk about...

Mental health and self esteem

sharing faith with friends

opportunities for leadership = sex and relationships

same sex attraction

family life = poverty and social injustice = other world faiths

Prep for school/college/uni transition

personal bible reading

social media and internet =  service to the church or community

personal prayer = drugs and addiction

TV and films

the basics of the christian faith

porn

discipling others

= ranked as equivalent 

Losing Heart research from