Journeys In Between

An Evangelical Manifesto

2008-05-15T00:32:00+10:00

I have finished reading An Evangelical Manifesto and am pleased to say I found it refreshingly moderate. It positions evangelicalism between opposing Protestant tendencies towards liberal revisionism and conservative fundamentalism, has some very interesting things to say about the public square and engagement with other religions, and overall does a good job at clarifying evangelical Christian identity. This is a declaration I would put my name to. If you are not a Christian, read it, be informed. Actually, if you are a Christian, read it too.

Emerging Reality Check

2008-05-14T19:24:00+10:00

Here are some great "reality check" questions from the Rubicon

So you are a missional incarnational expression of church - who would miss you if you weren’t there anymore?
So you are a missional incarnational expression of church - who is it you find yourselves ministering to… people like you?
So you are a missional incarnational expression of church - what point has there been to your existence - for whose benefit?
So you are a missional incarnational expression of church - How dirty have you got trying to be a transforming influence in your community?
So you are a missional incarnational expression of church - Why do you do what you do - to embody the gospel by standing up for true love, justice and grace?

Now, the church I am involved with is not missional incarnational, at least not as a whole, but there are those of us who strive to be missionally engaged with our community so this is still a good self check. So here goes, just letting it flow.

I don't think the average person in the street would panic if we suddenly weren't there one day, but we have forged relationships with some local families who very much value our friendship and presence in their lives. Just today my wife called me (and some others) to pray for her going into a tough situation after receiving a despirate call for help (which I won't go into), so yes, some would miss very much.
Not at all. We minister to people from just about every religion under the sun, from different cultures and different socio-economic and educational backgrounds.
There have been times when God has very much been glorified, in a public way, and others where no one really seemed to benefit. Sometimes we just do what we do as an obedience thing.
Walking alongside people with drug addictions, mental health issues, in financial, legal and relational crises, in all sorts of dark spiritual spaces, as friends, sharing lives, yeah, its tested what we know about our own boundaries.
I would like to think we do more than just embody the gospel and actually communicate it more explicitly as well. There have been some missed opportunities. I am trying to be more alert to them. I do it simply because its the way, the truth and the life God has awakened me to.

Not sure how this sits with you all. Often its less than glamourous. Often my practice falls short of my aspirations. How do you find respond to the questions?

Prayers Before Any Task

2008-05-14T07:10:00+10:00

Lord Jesus Christ, my God,
You have said, "Apart from me You can do nothing."
In faith I embrace Your words, Lord,
And I entreat Your goodness.
Help me to carry out the work I am about to begin,
And to bring it to completion.
To You I give glory,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

- Unknown

Saints

2008-05-13T23:29:17+10:00

Just an observation, but I was searching the Bible the other day and noted that the word "saint" does not appear anywhere in scripture. It's always "saints", plural, in reference to the people of God together.

In the Old Testament the bulk of the references are in the Psalm and Daniel. In the New Testament the bulk of the references are in Acts, the letters of Paul, and Revelation.

What does that say about the church do you think? What does that say about how we should refer to historic church leaders and apostles?

Is Jesus God?

2008-05-13T22:18:00+10:00

One of the profound challenges we face as Christians, I think, is the unacknowledged ignorance many non-Christians have about the Bible.

I don't know how many of you have experienced this, but, over the years I have come across heaps and heaps of people who thought they knew heaps and heaps about the Bible and what's in it and how it should be interpreted and how it came to be when in fact they knew very, very little. In encountering this, it is not the ignorance I find problematic, it is the fact that it is unacknowledged, that it is denied, that there is no beginner's mind.

One of the persistent misconceptions, courtesy of fiction author Dan Brown, seems to be the notion that the early Christians didn't acknowledge Jesus as God, that that didn't happen until Constantine ruined everything at the Council of Nicea in 325AD. Nasty old Constantine, he couldn't get anything right. Right? The problem is, one only need read New Testament passages like Hebrews 1:8-9 and John 20:28, written much earlier, to see how unfounded such a notion that is. And this is the problem, that so many people think they know the Bible without having read it, wrestled with it or deeply meditated on it. It almost makes me wonder if we should go back to printing them all in the original Greek so people could finally and honestly admit, "It's all Greek to me". Then we would finally have an honest and authentic starting point.

Christianity in China

2008-05-13T19:26:00+10:00

News of note. Christianity Today recently featured an extended article on the house church movement in China called Great Leap Forward.

Two comments struck me as ones I would particularly like to work through further.

Firstly, in response to this comment...

Yet the West has achieved and sustained a greater degree of liberty than any other culture. Hsu wondered what the West had that China didn't. "Before freedom comes, you have to have a foundation. In the West that foundation is Christianity."

How true do you think his reading of history is? Are there any signs that alternative religions or secular bodies are creating new institutions promoting justice and liberty? Do alternative religions or secular bodies truly provide a less adequate foundation for justice?

Secondly, in response to this comment...

I see the young leaders from the house church in China planting churches in southern Europe, western Europe, and Calgary and Toronto. I see them everywhere. So it's now the era of ministry from China.

Could it be that Asian, African and South American missionaries may have the more significant long term impact to Christianity in the West than the emerging church?

Dawkins

2008-05-12T22:00:00+10:00

I was scanning John Stackhouse's blog last week and found he has written an engaging critique of a talk by Richard Dawkins at the University of British Columbia.

Thoughts?

Personally I preferred the old Athetism which stretched my thinking more. This new breed of writers seem to have separated Atheism from rationalism in a rather ironic way and, IMO, are less thought provoking as a consequence. I was particularly bemused by Dawkins' response to the vegetarians. Maybe we should start emailing him pictures of pigs, asking "What would Babe do?", to encourage Dawkins to think things through more.

But, on a more serious note, I really wish he would take a theology 101 course so that when he critiques Christianity (and other religions) he actually has something more than a childhood projection of Christianity (and other religions) out in front of him. Christians have out course been guilty of doing the same thing to Atheists, but surely true rationalists would seek to move beyond that?

Prayer of Saint Ephraim

2008-05-11T12:04:00+10:00

O Lord and Master of my life,
Grant not unto me a spirit of idleness,
of discouragement,
of lust for power,
and of vain speaking.

But bestow upon me, Thy servant,
the spirit of chastity,
of meekness,
of patience,
and of love.

Yea, O Lord and King,
grant that I may perceive
my own transgressions,
and judge not my brother,
for blessed art Thou
unto ages of ages.
Amen.

- Saint Ephraim

The Gospel in Romans 1

2008-05-10T14:08:12+10:00

Just some more reflections on the gospel here.

Since the letter of Paul to the Romans is a critical source for Reformation theology I suppose I would be remiss not to include it in the discussion. So, what does Paul have to say explicitly in Romans? Well, we don't have to look far. Paul introduces the gospel in the very first paragraph:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

And not a word about atonement theology - penal substitution, Christus Victor or anything. Now of course I am aware that Paul has a lot to say about justification by faith and atonement later on in this letter - so again, don't hear me dismissing atonement as unimportant - but I think it is important to recognize that Paul could speak of the gospel without mentioning them, even here. So I reiterate the point that while atonement theology is connected to the gospel in important ways it is not, in and of itself, the gospel. And this has obvious implications for evangelism, at least I hope they're obvious.

Oh, and just in case this is missed, observe how the Spirit is mentioned right up front, and how a call to a transformed lifestyle, as a consequence of faith, is included as implications of this gospel.

Nudie Church

2008-05-10T10:56:41+10:00

I just had to share this. Last night the church ran a family movie night on the big screen in the worship center. We do this every now and again just to get together and have some fun. The kids were either down the front or scattered around the different seats. The parents were relaxing and supervising.

Anyway, towards the end one of the parents behind me was getting his kids ready for bed, putting on the PJs, that sort of thing. When all of a sudden he's yelling out his kids name, saying no, NO! The next thing I know there's this naked butt running past my face. His child, in the greatest of Aussie traditions, had decided to do a nudie run around the church auditorium / sanctuary / whatever you want to call it. Did a full lap. It was absolutely hilarious. I was nearly in tears I was laughing so hard. Every parent in the place just cracked up. Things quickly recovered, but you know, I like being amongst people who can laugh and not get hung up about things like that.