so far so bad

i have reread my posts and am unhappy with chunks of most so have decided a new approach is required.

my goal is to initiate intelligent debate and conversation, but to do so i feel i must be a little more intelligent and ordered in my own thinking. so i will be taking the sermon approach. start with the theme/passage/idea/or pet peeve thren begin with a first draft. sit with it for a whole week with 2 or 3 more drafts before publishing it on a sunday night. now i am aware good intentions are fraught, and most particularly as the calendar is about to tick over for another year but i have things i choose to say so will say them with more care in the future.

for now i will make occasional posts with minimal thought and majority of posts after a weeks reflection and deliberation.

go boldly and with courage for god calls those who least expect it and challenges those who feel they already have it.

god bless in 2007

sex is the answer

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silent minority

i have been reading alot of people's blogs and comments connected to these blogs and notice something somewhat disturbing. i am yet to read a blog that disagrees with the writer or takes them to task. no wait i take it back i have read one and it was on a friends blog which led to the beginnings of what could have been a fascinating debate but was quickly ended. more is the shame

disagree with me. i want to enter into intelligent discussion and debate with a willigness for both sides to be heard.

faith and christ warrant open discussions.

as was said in the ongoing debate about women bishops in the australian anglican church. disagree with us fine but don't keep blocking us. in my belief to disagree and enter into a debate is honourable but to limit yourself to closed statements without the honesty and integrity of questions is cowardly. check out the 'equal but different' website some time and tell me if they fit the honourable or cowardly cap. yes i am a christian who has worked for the anglican church for a long time but no i do not prescribe to any definition of faith that limits, denies and dehumanises.

i am the silent minority. not silent because i haven't spoken, silent because the people that matter have chosen not to hear.

i wonder how many others feel like the silent minority
i wonder if we are a minority or a majority
i wonder what the implications are if the majority is speaking and not being heard

free speech in the USA seems to be travelling a george orweel path with free speech being allowed so long as you agree with the party line. david hicks and all the prisoners at guantamino bay will be testament ot that.
i have more to say but will finish these thoughts for now.

christmas is mostly myth

i am not going to play around the edges regarding the validity of the accounts of christs birth or why it was added much later or even if it is truth or necessary for justification jesus deity. what i want to play around with is the naivety we have covered ourselves in by never really thinking through some of the inconsistencies that DO make a difference.

point 1

where did mary and joseph stay in Bethlehem?

if joseph was returning to his home town, as we are told he had to to comply with the census conditions, surely there would have been family he could have stayed with...this being the case perhaps it was a case of too many family in town at the one time. i read recently in a book a version of the christmas story that challenged me where it was... a cousins or an aunts or a parents home where the men were sent outside so the family women could care for the imminent birth. when suitably cleaned up after the birth the men ushered back in to the crowded house where the practical and clever women had converted a manger into a temporary crib. thoughts?

point 2

wise magi/kings/men and their gifts

the significance of the three gifts is lost in a culture where the expectation is to give a gift you think the receiver may want or need. no longer do we have strict rules governing appropriateness and relevance of gifts, though there are some remains i have noticed with royalty and wedding anniversaries. remember the Magi were seeking a 'king' and the tradition would have been to offer three gifts. one of annointing (myrrh richly scented oil), one of prosperity (gold) and one for in death (francincense burnt to cover the smell of the dead body before burial). if each was required to bring the 3 gifts how many wise people were there and is it even important?

point 3

the visiting angel and the forgetful parents

when jesus is an older child he visits with all the family the temple. (side note: the one solitary life poem misses this story and other times jesus visits the temple when it says jesus never visited a major city) when he becomes lost his parents come seeking him and he says, on them finding him, did you not know i would be in my father's house and they were confused. does this mean the visit from gabriel, to mary and in joseph's dreams, was so inconsequential they could forget they were raising the son of god?

point 4

the baby story mythology

christmas, and by default it seems christianity, for a large part is seen as a baby story. this leqads to my preference i guess for the gospel of john. in the beginning was the word... the word entered the world as flesh so that in about 30 years he could spend 3 years sharing the good news of god's great love.

please do not hear me saying christmas is unimportant, because i would rather you heard me say christmas is important enough to dig into and pull apart to find the 'reason for the season' for yourself. god's gift is personal so to make anything other than a personal response seems to me falling short.

christmas is worth wrestling with, as is easter, as is any exploration of faith that leads you to 'being all you can be rather than half of what you could be'.

creator created create

i believe we were all made in god's image as creative vibrant beings. living as anything less or living someone elses faith seems to me to limit the potentiality of creation.

may your joy overflow and your sense of hope be revived in some way this christmas. even if it comes at the expense of comfortable naive christmas fairytales

god bless

OUCH! pt2

had a chance to think about my last post a bit more and realise a problem.

my own hypocrisy! OUCH!

just had my little rant about judgement of worth only to realise i have made judgements of integrity. i am not of the belief that people of faith are more or less sincere than each other but it does provide an interesting dilemma if i choose to make comment. hypocrisy is the one pet peeve i have never really overcome, particularly my own.

Creator god i pray i have the courage to

change what can i can

accept what i can't

and the wisdom to know the difference

this prayer has been given to me alot in the last 12 years and until last week i hadn't twigged why. people kept giving it to me, apparently, because i seemed to hit my head against the wall so often they felt i should stop. (accept what i can't) i, seeking martyrdom oft, naturally presumed it was the courage i was being infused with. figures.

to continue my blogging i will have to learn to

1. accept my own hypocrisy and walk sofly when seen to be highlighting anothers.
2. accept change is not a likely outcome of my blog but hopefully debates of interest will be.
3. accept that my view is probably going to be lost in cyber space for my reading and amusement alone

i wonder:

• if god is a blogger
• how the writers in the old and new testament were inspired
• when christianity will realise its full potential
• when faith will be the source of life, not a drain or source of conflict

ouch!

as one of the 'fallen' those who acknowledge their need for saving i am unable to buy into current trends in church and fringe church. i find myself wondering why it is so many take exception to the 'mega church models'. i wonder why it is the traditional churches are condemned and considered to be dying. i wonder how it is the 'fringe evangelists/missionaries' that speak of the emerging church see it as the best/only way forward.

it seems to me all of these worship forms reach different people differently. the sniping and judgement of worth from each viewpoint doesn't seem to do anyone any favours.

my understanding of the gospels and christ's actions was not to start a new religion or to condemn the old, but to provide people with access to god. direct access, to the creator god and the love offered for each of us. jesus was a good jew, faithful in his duties though unwilling to have god defined and compartmentalized as was happening in this point of history.

i believe christ sought above all else to connect people back to the creator. the current trend of self definition "we are bible believing christians... - we are missional church... - we are etc." suggests that all others are not. ouch! because i choose not to prescribe to any of these institutional ideas (yes i believe emerging church is institutional) in their entirety i find myself labelled as something other, lesser or unwelcome. disconnection is at the heart of this. not a christ concept in my thinking.

so i wonder...

• if christ's main purpose was to connect people to the creator
• if yes, does the 'church' in which that happens now really matter
• if no, what was it
• if 'bible believing christians' and 'missional christians'... etc understand how offensive the self defined tags/labels become to those they exclude

is jesus an alcoholic?

i originally titled this post "was jesus an alcoholic' then found myself in theological quicksand, so 'is' it is.

oh you thought i meant the alcoholic bit. look i didn't write this title just to stir the pot i am concerned at a number of judgemental attitudes creeping back in to modern thought and debate. sex, alcohol, drugs and homosexuality (i know should be under sex but never seems to make it there in the debates) are the evils being warned against and how against god's nature they all are...well unless they are practiced in the context that we approve of course, well excepting homosexuality. sex only in marriage - thats man and woman thankyou in case any doubts lingered. sex before marriage is such an affront god can't bare to watch though it seems many of the pastors preaching on this topic appear to be dieing to. alcohol is bad and even now in cases prevented from being consumed at church endorsed events. are you serious! do you know what the first miracle was!? water into wine and at the request of his mother, a woman, good lord what will we do...another woman leading men into temptation and damnation...no wait jesus didn't sin. hmmm...

drugs, well don't get me started unless prescribed by a doctor they are bad, no wait, unless legally brought from a chemist, no wait thats why they've stopped selling cold and flu medication. drugs must all be bad unless prescribed by your local clergy person. they know whats good for you. which by the way is not experiencing love if you happen to be homosexual. no no no - no love for you - a life of misery and loneliness will be your lot in life.

Christ came and walked in the everyday. Christ spoke with women, healed the unclean and dined with the outcast. all it would seem without prejudice or agenda. sharing of himself and taking the time seems to have turned more than a few into believers and the strength of the new relationship caused almost unimaginable actions as a result.

i have friends that indulge in sex, drugs, alcohol and even some very close friends who are homosexual. i meet with them without agenda or prejudice. they are just my friends for whom i care. i am letting you know that i will protect them at all costs and feel no need to defend their actions or mine. god is moving in whatever way and time she chooses. it seems to me my role is to simply care and make the time. feel free to judge me or argue your point but if you do, i challenge you not to turn and run or avoid being confronted. i crave the refiners fire and it makes me a better person to try and resolve what may in fact be unresolvable.

jesus wasn't an alcoholic in my view though there were some who accused him of it. a drunkard who eats with those society rightfully rejects.

well then i choose to be rejected

i wonder...

• if homosexuality is a sickness why so many 'suffer'
• if homosexuality is not the natural order why hermaphrodites exist and why something like 7% of babies are sex indeterminate at birth
• i wonder why god made so many joyful elements as a part of creation if they were not to be enjoyed (just so you know: i don't do drugs but i do enjoy a good wine, an old scotch and as much sex as i can handle)

jesus name above all names?

i am seeing a trend in church music that both unnerves and comforts at the same time. words that assure me of god's soveriegnty and love. words that tell me how to live and why. words that simplify my faith and encourage me to run with the energy music generates in the soul.

but here is the problem

who knows the christmas story?
stable, 3 wise men, a donkey and no room in the inn.
i have read this story over and over in the gospels and find no clear evidence of a number of long held beliefs and i have wondered where they come from. it has been obvious in some ways but slippery in its subtlety. the christmas 'mythology' is perpetuated through song. don't believe me...read the gospel accounts of jesus birth (matthew and luke if your unsure where to find) and tell me how many wise men there were. not how many gifts! how many wise men. tell me about mary's donkey she supposedly rode. if you have a child tell me your reaction if no sound they make... (away in a manger)
and here is the kicker... find a mention of the stable...not the manger...a stable!

jesus name above all names, jesus lover of my soul,... jesus the name we call when we sing to our saviour. a teacher friend i know comfronted me with a dilemma when she taught an english second language course. on her roll were 6 Jesus'. they must be really flattered by the reverence their name is held in, in this great country of ours. or bemused by the amount of cursing they seem to find themselves unwittingly a part of.

if we base our beliefs on that which we find in music i suspect we are in great peril. the huge hillsong, vineyard and evangelical churches may need to check their theology as 'bible believing' christians if they are to continue singing some of these songs.

so i wonder...
when the 'negro' sang songs of a better tomorrow in heaven and gods great promise. what was their world like?

so i wonder...
how the 'middle class theology' of a better today sees god's fulfilment in the present. what is our world like in 1st world australia?

i wonder because thousands are dieing of hunger, treatable diseases and violence throughout the world which seems contrary to god's promises of the 'end time' and yet in 1st world countries we sing it like we mean it.

control

i have been reflecting on the current trend in christian churches which seems to revolve around control and therefore by default 'power'. 'if we believe enough, god will do it'. my concern is that this presumes we know what is best for us and says to god you are now a fairy granting wishes.
the second concern is hearing people i know sharing wedding vows with language that enables the man and disables the woman. submission willing or not is a handing over of power and i wonder if the men making these vows are as gracious to god as their future wives are expected to be to them.
the third is the aligning of church and state and the craving for christians to impose their belief systems and morality on all.

my understanding of faith comes not from works and answered prayers but something much more subtle, difficult and confronting - relationship. works do not get us into heaven and yet i do things i hope are pleasing to god because of my love and the creators for me.
i submit to god's will and often my wifes as i trust they will often know, better than i, what is good for me. i have learnt to be very careful about what i pray for.
i choose not to impose my beliefs and morality on anyone but i will share with you why i choose to live the way i live and why that is been helpful or harmful for me. as a result people may feel i have been imposing but i hope that this is not generally the case.

i am concerned that the christian church is striving for very simplistic relationships that remove conflict and impose commonality. i am concerned because my faith is an expression of my relationship with god. as a by product that is influenced by those around me. i learn more of god with every conversation, action and reflection. when i was very young god was huge, ginormous unimaginable, though for some strange reason he had a beard - thanks Zeus!? wheni was in my late teens god had shrunk as had church with everything quantifiable. then god spoke... then god spoke... then god spoke again... then finally i listened. the great i am became big incomprehensible and a subject of my awe once again. i remember very clearly at this time being given a passage, a first and last time it has ever happened, john 16:12
I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. my barefoot walk of faith has not been a simplistic journey and i believe it has been the richer for it. i have learnt to listen and the creator has chosen to speak in a huge variety of ways. all of which have dragged me out of my comfort zones without it being more than i could handle.

i 'act and do', not because i must but because i choose to. god is not controlling me rather inviting me to respond. it just so happens my realationship with god sees me responding in a variety of positive 'christian like' ways. i believe heaven awaits me and have enough faith to be challenged and questioned, with a willingness to move when i feel appropriate.

faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of that which we cannot see. hebrews 11:1

faith, which for me means christianity, cannot in my view be about control but something opposite, not out of control, but a willing submission and response to relationship. relationships rarely flourish when controlled and manipulated.

so i wonder...

• can you be a Christian if you have all the answers.
• how many time Jesus found himself lacking the answers and reliant on faith.

welcome

it may look like i have had alot on my mind today but the reality is these issues have been on my mind and heart for to long and it is only a matter of busy-ness that has prevented my good intentions of posting them sooner.

i welcome intelligent discussion and debate. intelligent discussion and debate requires an engagement i have found lacking on many other internet forums. (all to easy to be kicked out of chat when express a radical view) 'christians' have a wonderful habit of avoiding ideas that may challenge or destabilise, making far too many statements, and therefore by default, asking far to few helpful questions.

i was raised in the anglican church, then left in disgust after 'god said' i wasn't ready for ministry. in the 3 nightmare years that followed i discovered the distance the self righteous can fall and developed an empathy for those on the outside seeking a way in.
i have worshipped in most christian denominations for a time, only to discover that the 'non-traditional' is very traditional, admittedly different traditional from what the catholics and anglicans practise. it seems to me that these two denominations are easy targets and with the unfortunate rise of 'literalistic interpretation' in the 'evangelical' and 'traditional' forms it is no wonder. to much talk of who is in and who is out. too much talk of what you can and cannot do if you have the unfortunate fate of being born without a penis. i have no more time for this and it seems to me, in my reading of the gospels, god had precious little patience left for this also. don't get me started on paul and why the caretakers of our faith felt it necessary to include so many of his writings. complete aside i will explore more in a later post - if the bible was created for new believers where does this leave the 'bible believing christians' in their faith development? infancy!?
as i said i will explore this further later

i currently practice my faith in an anglican church that has representatives of most of the labelled theological streams (anglo castholic, liberal, traditional, fundamental, evangelical,...) so the discussion, debate and occasional arguments keep us all honest in seeking our creator god, and honouring our relationship through Christ.

the anglican church will be getting a number of serves in future posts don't think for a moment i am a part of their PR department

i have also explored in some depth islam, zen, buddhism and creation faith systems which has been a huge blessing for my christian walk. yes i still call myself a christian though mainly due to the lack of a better label.

jesus THE christ is the one who strive to follow by challenging the church, learning my faith (but perhaps more importantly the essence of my faith) and seeking the Creator God.

so that is a cracked window of an insight into me
without eye contact it is difficult to show my soul but i will share as much as i safely can
this may be a good thing for depending on the circle you mix with in the church global i range from prophet to spawn of satan
not comfortable with either tag by the way as both seem to hold very little hope for happy endings

i will post again soon
i promise

if there is nothing to do about it...

For a Relationship to be built on love, at least one of the parties has to have a hope and/or desire for a deeper connection to be made.

The statement “God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it” was emailed to me a little while ago and I have felt the need to respond. Even though the response deals in, what may only be semantics, I feel, like all gross generalizations, it is untrue and perhaps even unhelpful. ‘Statements and threats often go hand in hand in darkened rooms.’
Love is relationship which I think by definition requires a response whether conscious or unconscious, and therefore there is something you can do about it.

The options God’s unconditional love presents us with are I think outlined below
· Reject it
· Accept it
· Reciprocate it
· Explore it
· Ignore it

I would love to know if there are any options other than these.

for my wife and child

i keep wondering about the older faith systems of Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and the ‘Creation’ faith systems, common to each nation’s indigenous people.
What is it they can offer the ‘baby’ faith systems of Christianity and Islam.

I keep tripping over what seems to me to be one undeniable truth common in each
We are told to give thanks to our Creator and care for Creation which has been entrusted to us.
Every indigenous people of every nation seems to have this as a part of their core spirituality (even us ‘Westerners’ have it in our Christian Spirituality though often conveniently overlooked)
All this arguing about faith internally, externally and cross culturally seems to have left behind this most basic call.
What price will we pay for this arrogance and self absorption?
What price our children?
When will Creation stop crying out?
When we have silenced it or when we begin to again care for it?

What does this all mean for me
I continue to seek relationship with my Creator God
I will continue to fight for Creation for not only my sake, but for my wife and child

scary thought for a christian

Jesus life, death and resurrection does not, in my recent reading, seem to have fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies
Notably Isaiah Chapter 2 …and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up swords against nations neither shall they learn war anymore.
Does this mean the JEWS are right?
Is Christianity built on misguided beliefs?
Is the fulfillment of the prophecies only possible if we all believe in one Messiah?
And whence does this prescribe the formula - one world one faith?

Scary thought if the Jews are right…well for me as a Christian it is