The Religion Cocktail

Ruth Gledhill, the religion correspondant for The Times, has dropped in my estimations as she took Boris Johnson’s suggestion to practice Ramadan in order to sympathise with Muslims. Boris, the kind-hearted and muddled fellow that he is, asked his employees to forsake biscuits on their tea breaks in order that their fellow colleagues could have a slightly easier day at work. It seems he’s forgotten he’s mayor of London, which is the capital of England. Tea breaks without biscuits is something that hasn’t had to have been foregone since ration books, and we’re not about to start now; sharia law or not.

Of course, these days, a cocktail of religious festivals is the way forward if you want true enlightenment…
Or if you want to lose weight.

Watch out for other religious fasts across the wide ranging worldviews of Islam, buddhism, Judaism, and others, while I stick to feast of Jesus.

Fasting is irrelevant until we realise what a feast we have in Him. Then fasting becomes another form of worship, instead of a complete self-indulgent attempt at sympathy and weight-loss combined.

If you fast in a foreign land, which, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we do whether you were born here, or born-again here, you should complain about the gluttonous nature of your colleagues. Free will has been around for long enough for us to know that the greatest gift we can give us choice. And if our lives present even an aroma of Jesus, we will get into trouble anyway.

Christmas is coming, act normal

It's the time of year again, where no matter how many people complain, Christmas decorations are appearing in the shelves of supermarkets. All over the country there is uproar, and secret purchasing, of such items being visible to the general public.

This is the usual point where an opinionist such as myself will lament over the lost meaning of Christmas, and some friends will unknowingly complain the Christmas isn't the only time you should be nice to people for a change.

My first ever job was in a supermarket in Rotherham. It had all the joys of tithing manure. I was asked to work Christmas eve, despite the fact I was making more money per hour busking in a four piece, than I would that day on the tills.

And yet, good will seemed to have been injected into a black man who came running round the shop handing out fivers to anyone who helped him.

It was a mighty strange experience.

Britain seems to be pretty hostile towards the traditions it has had. I wonder what would happen to the common man of his Christmas holidays were taken away from him?

Convert to Islam, probably.

Adrian Warnock and his secretive sharing

Adrian Warnock shared this quote last night on his blog:

"A PROMISE from God may very instructively be compared to a cheque payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a cheque."

Now Adrian has chosen to keep the author from the public and asks that others hold back that information if they have it. I have an idea of who it is, though I can't be sure, and in some sense it doesn't really matter. If the words are truth we can ascribe them to Jesus. 

Ephesians says: "the fruit of light [of which we are children] is found in all that is good and right and true."

And seeing as we are children of God, then it makes a fine bit of sense to attribute these things the the King.

Ephesians also spends some time emphasising the downpayment, or guarantee, which is the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by Him, and await an inheritance because of Him.

I await what else will be shared from the book this quote came from, but I do think that if we are to operate fully as the church of Jesus Christ, we must change our thinking about God's word. And that is only possible if we renew our minds daily to receive from the King. We have nothing left to give. How can we possible try to earn His favour? Or make Him hurry His work? Just receive the blessings from Him daily. That's all He asks us to do… at first, anyway.

Whatever you want you first have to sow. (Economy God's way part 4)

Jason Vallotton

It has become all too easy to think that work is from the devil. In due course the world will be over and work will be finished with. However, when we here Jesus teaching in parables that focus on money, work, and relationships, we have to wonder what the kingdom of God really is.

When the 'culmination of all things' takes place, what will remain? And what will never be seen again?

In the parable of the talents we have 4 characters. 3 servants and the king.

These servants must have worked hard to get where they are. When the king goes away for a while, the servants are entrusted with large sums of money to use in whatever way they see fit. The king's motivation is to make a profit, but also wants to have there servants go further than where they have been. This is an initiation into upper management, if you like.

If you don't like, go suck on a lemon.

The fascinating thing about this parable is the uncanny ability it has to condemn complacency. You've been given something. You either do something with it, or lose it. If you're not using is, it's obviously useless to you.

Where does that put investment banking in the kingdom of God scale?

Broken people, broken record

I'm no father, and I'm also guilty of getting carried away with my phone. But when I see two parents with the mother giving their daughter attention while the father plays with his Blackberry on the underground, where there is no reception, while the son amuses himself behind them both, it gives me something to rant about.

Still, nobody's perfect. And that is the excuse of the nation as yet another prisoner is set free for a large sum of money, and the Post Office strikes because people have worked out how to use email.

There is no such thing as ideal parents. Once you get to your teens you are convinced your parents know nothing and the whole world is against you. Strange things emerge from all parts of your body, and you're left wondering how long it will be until the next meal. And continual hunger isn't good for a growing lad with self esteem and image issues.

I think it's high time the UK admits it has the issues of a 15-year-old boy, unable to get a girlfriend, just so that we can get back to work on Monday with a clear conscience. So the economy is a wee bit on a low at the moment, but that doesn't allow the world to decide we can fix it. It was broken because the people in the banks had issues, and the people with no money had issues, and the people spending the tax money had issues, because everyone has issues. And people with issues make organisations with issues.

It's a broken world, and the last thing you want a rattling car to do is make a five hour car journey to Leeds just to see her boyfriend. The fact that our car was written off by a van before it fell apart completely, is irrelevant. You can't hope things will get better with time. Especially when there have been more and bloodier wars in the last 100 years or so than in the last 4000. The idea that evolution is an improvement over time is a misunderstanding of facts at best. And history testifies to gloomier times ahead unless we finally give up our efforts and put our trust in the One who came to rescue this place from ultimate calamity.

Unwanted comments

I just had to delete a comment advertising penis enlargement. That's
not something you can make up.

Advertising is based on dissatisfaction. Effectively, the whole
premise of sales is to make the customer in question doubt their
fulfilment in everything they own for the sake of a new toaster; with
an LCD display.

I can't help but wonder how the toothbrush was remarketed to brush
tongues as well, and now we also have cheek brushes. This is an absurd
take on turning a simple device into a completely useless money-making
scam.

Like treating marriage as a form of profit, the world is taking the
downturn with hatred and hoping that no-one has noticed that yet
another large company has had to make 10,000 redundancies. And
materialism as rife as it is, convincing people they need to spend
more money to survive, because 350 TV channels just aren't enough, is
easier than changing a lightbulb.

Speaking of lightbulbs, the new way around selling things is to make
any energy saving device overpriced and then make people believe that
it will save them money. I don't know how a £4 lightbulb is saving me
money when I have to part with £4. It's like paying a monthly
subscription to a gym in order to use everything for free. That makes
no sense to me. If I'm paying £40 a month then using everything isn't
free. It's £40.

Anyway, penis enlargement aside, the targetted adverts are promisingly
vulgar, as usual, and no-one has to venture outside to know that the
sun is shining.

Idolatry is common-place. I probably shouldn't just stand by and
watch, should I?

Jesus' Teaching on Money - Introduction (Part 3)

Now we turn to an analysis of a selection of Jesus' parables.

Over the next few posts on a 'Kingdom of God Economy' I will discuss:

• Parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30)
• Parable of the hidden treasure (Matt 13:44)
• Paying taxes to Caesar (Luke 20:19-26)
• Parable of the shrewd (or dishonest) manager (Luke 16:1-13)
• Parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt 20:1-16

All of these are in some way paradoxical, or at least contradictory. And of these 5, about 15 or so more have had to be left to one side.

Are there any initial thoughts you have on these parable and teaching before I set to work?

The Internet Machine (no hostility intended)

Last time I wrote quite a provocative first paragraph:
"[The Internet] machine has created a culture that requires instant access to everything. This is a counterfeit attitude at greater leisure, when everyone knows that the greatest leisure comes from taking things slowly. This machine has made news, opinion and opinion, fact."

Society has certainly changed. Newspapers no longer report, they discuss. It is a presentation of their viewpoint on events. And most newspapers claim things to be newsworthy that aren't even news. Like the dress-sense of Gordon Brown. Or the likelihood of alien invasions being calculated by coma induced students at Brunel University.

And then the obvious: "we don't have any news so lets do a double page spread of gossip, letting us know how many time Lindsay Lohan has married women, and the photogenic nature of Brad Pitt's vegetable patch" (no euphemism intended).

The Internet is both an incredible gift, and a terrible curse. I could quote stat after stat if how much pornography is uploaded every minute. Only 10% of which (approximately) is legal. The rest is even more depraved and depicts animal, children, and a large bottle of Tabasco to eyes of the film maker when I catch him.

Googe has made the Internet smaller, then expanded it again. And all the time we get message after message that we've won the 10000000000000 visitor prize every time we visit that web page. And I get emails every 3-4 minutes telling me my penis is too small when there are only a select few who've seen it and they aren't the kind of people to start working for 'enlargement' organisations (sorry mum).

In all of this we have a smaller world, cheaper products, undiscovered creativity being made readily available, and free thought (within reason) flying left, right, and centre, while wikipedia tries desperately to pick up the pieces of misinformed citations letting everyone know that Hitler was a type of cheese.

Thank you Internet.

Sincerely

Toby (writer thanks to my ISP)  

Everyone else is Wrong

A lot of the church's critics come for he inside.

Weird, no?

I've been reading a few different "Biblioblogs" (blogs from the Christian Blogosphere [where people blog]) that spend the majority of their time breaking down their own church experience, then reconstructing it under their own system. I do it. I have a series of posts in my "drafts" section with clear instructions on where the church has gone wrong, then my great ideas on how it can be better. We're all allowed our convictions, but ultimately I've forgotten that simple truth that 'there is nothing new under the sun.'

All of my innovation, inspiration, and revelation, is all simply new to me. Not the world, not the church, and certainly not all those that have gone before me.

For that, I'm sorry. Slight error, I must say.

Important thing

I've just created a summary page of the opening of Ephesians over at
my other blog.

http://twentypence.wordpress.com/important-things-from-ephesians-1/

Thought you might like it.

King Jesus' Economic Plans (Part 2)

If we’re thinking of a counter-cultural existence, there isn’t a bigger topic to discuss than money and possessions. Especially for everyone who has the Internet. This machine has created a culture that requires instant access to everything. This is a counterfeit attitude at greater leisure, when everyone knows that the greatest leisure comes from taking things slowly. This machine has made news, opinion and opinion, fact.

Then we immerse ourselves in the person of Jesus. Who was he? If we take the idea that someone is the sum of the company they keep, Jesus is one mixed up kid. His multiple personalities include: terrorist, tax collector (as hated as ticket inspectors or traffic wardens or tax collectors today), local businessman, builder, lepor (or someone suffering from swine flu to be boxed up indefinitely while GPs feign cleanliness by asking you to use alcohol rub before using heir biros), beggar/hobo, general unsavoury character, etc.

As mainstream rabbis go, of which Jesus wasn’t, you were supposed to pick apprentices with the most potential. That usually meant that they had already made great progress and were looking for the next level. Jesus took this to an extreme, where ‘most potential’ meant ‘least visible progress in life thus far’. And this is where economic thouht from Jesus really pulls things apart in comparison to today’s theorists.

Do not take financial advice from Jesus.

If we’re talking about investment (and I am) and you put that together with all of Jesus’ teachings you get a pretty strange mix. Effectively, Jesus’ theory was:
‘Take the most worthless product, downtrodden and forgotten about, hated and rejected and pour your very self into it until you are at your very end. Then leave.

At some point around 6 weeks after you’ve left, there will be some great stuff going on that will last forever. But it will take a long time.

Well worth it, though.’

Last week I mentioned 3 aspects of The Economy According to Jesus which included ministry to the poor.

This is one of the most talked about virtues in today’s society, but it’s for someone else. The charities do it. My neighbour does it. That weird hippy does it. I don’t. I don’t want to get my hands dirty. It is one of the fundamental practices of any given church. Or should be. And it’s all for negative profit. The investment is the same as with Jesus. Give everything you have to see them lifted out of their own filth. And you hardly even get a good feeling about yourself because you’re exhausted.

But that’s Jesus’ second principle. Or fourth. After caring for the poor, cancelling debt, and getting regular rest, you invest in the worthless for a reward that’s either non existant, or invisible for a hefty amount of time.

Let me know how it goes!

Slavery and the bible

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2009/4187_How_Paul_Worked_to_Overcome_Slavery/

Just when you think it could get interesting, John Piper shoots 11
points at you.

For a summary:

Slavery=bad

The Economy where Jesus is King, part 1

God's economy is fundamentally different to how we think. I find this astonishing as we were designed by him. Let me elaborate.

There are three primary principles that operate in God's economy that makes it what it is; fully functioning, successful, high in riches.
1. Rest
2. Cancellation of debt
3. Caring for the poor

These three make no sense to the sensible person.
1. Everyone would love to rest, but when you're not working, you're not earning. If you're not earning you can't live.
2. Cancelling a debt is practically unheard of. But if your debt is cancelled you're eternally grateful.
3. Caring for the poor is admirable, but there's never enough left over to give. And there's no return. Once you've been generous in any form you don't get a pay back.

In the Golden Years of Isreal, when David was king, the nation was admired, wealthy, and powerful. And this was primarily because it was operating under God's economy. The widow, oppressed, and poor were cared for. The soldiers and farmers and workers from all walks of life took a day of rest, religiously. And the year of Jubilee (every 7th year where any outstanding debt was settled through cancellation) was fully enforced.

This was the workers were happy, the people were happy, and the nation wasn't crippling itself with unending borrowing.

You can see where today's society took a wrong turn, can't you?

Feminine Christianity (or How to get someone to read your blog)

Just for everyones benefit, I happen to have caught a glimpse of some
female Christian bloggers. There is no harm in these. I am fascinated,
however, at the difference in expression of faith there is between the
male and female world. This is a massive generalisation which I'm
relatively proud of.

In this world of finding the Gospel of Jesus and digging deep, the
male and female jump into two very different pools. Even when issues
are practically identical, the outcome contrasts dramatically. This
boils down to the oil and water syndrome of the human race.

Men and women are fundamentally different. No matter how much you put
men and women into the same category, the men always get violent and
the women always get emotional. (Please note my comments on
generalisations mentioned earlier.)

Trouble is brewed when the gospel is to be communicated to a crowd of
men AND women. How does this message gt both of these people at once?
It is a message of love and violence. Commitment and endurance. Hope
and power. Nothing short of a timely paradox. A timeless Truth that
filters through to our society like the fumes of a strong cup of
coffee waking the dead.

The message is a wake up call and a reassurance. This world is in a
terrible place, claims the message of Jesus. This world is headed
toward judgment. This same message in an instant gives hope beyond
reason. Justice has been and will be done. The hungry will be fed. The
mourning will be comforted. The toast will not be burnt anymore.

I have to live in this paradox. Thank God for the church. I don't
think I could do this without community.

Time to return: Jonah Part 5

There have been a lot of muddled thoughts here recently; brought about
by looking and dwelling in the book of Jonah. Why does God relent when
this city shows repentance? Isn't that going back on His word?

It is a puzzle that has kept me up late, seen conversations twist and
turn with enquiries, but there is an answer that can only be revealed
in wrestling. If you don't believe me, read my post on Jacob from a
while back.

Does God change his mind?

I've had enough of a time on this to know that what God wants and what
God does are perfectly balanced. He is a loving father who doesn't
want to see His children hurt in any way, yet He sends pain and
affliction as the loving discipline of a perfect parent. He lets us
learn and doesn't intervene when He could, and no doubt wants to.

On the other hand: He holds back from complete annihalation of this
fallen planet because even though He is in constant agony over
everything done by people on this earth and desires it to be done
with, He acts over this planet in hope that all things will be
redeemed. And He knows that because He Spoke.

And He Spoke over Nineveh. He Spoke disaster. This is His justice.
Then He spoke salvation. This is His mercy. This is the same God.

Does Jesus change His mind?

No.

He knows what He wants, and He knows what He needs to do.

All this because He looks at the wounds He bore Himself and has
confidence in the final judgment. He is patient and humble and waits
for victory to be seen by as many as possible. It is by His grace and
mercy that we are still around today.

It will be His glory revealed when He judges the whole earth. And those
who are His can have confidence in Him.

Jonah knew God: "You are full of compassion, abounding in steadfast
love," and He had confidence in the response God would have on the
Ninevites if they repented. So when they did, it is Jonah who is a
little miffed!

But more on that next time.

This is strange

You know what I think is weird?

Everytime I open a can of baked beans, I expect there to be baked beans in the can.

Update for my readers. My many readers.

So I've not posted here for too long. And my last few posts have left
loose ends left, right and centre. But I'm going to take a break after
some recent events have forced me to post some updates online. I do
just feel forced.

I got married.

Some of you may remember the day. It's one of the favourite days of my
life I must say. And married life has treated me good thus far. I've
been living with my bride and my housemates because we couldn't find
somewhere affordable to live, but now we're moving out.

Incidentally this is also a test post, to see whether I can post from
my phone. If I can then there may be more frequent, shorter posts
happening here.

More updates will come.

Jonah Part 4a

Does God change?

Yes.

I've been wrestling for a while over this question, brought out by my studies through Jonah; or at least emphasized. There are thought on bits of paper everywhere, and I have almost made my decision. I need to clarify a lot in my mind, and describe what I mean when I say "Yes" to the above question. But I'm wondering, do other people entertain this idea? Or are they happy with a simplistic idea of pre-ordination (if they're Christian), or incredibly unhappy with a God of simplistic pre-ordination (if they're speculative about God)?

There will be more coming, but I'm not comfortable with what I've written to publish, yet. So prepare yourself for a muddled couple of posts (I anticipate) getting my thoughts into readable prose.

Thank you. And enjoy the bank holiday.

Jonah Part 3

Catch up with the previous posts here and here. And even read Jonah (it won't take you long) here.

Jonah gets to work

Jonah gets his call from God a second time. This isn't surprising, and God's unrelenting handling of Jonah to get him facing the right way is somewhat of a comfort to the thousands, if not millions, of people trying to do what God's calling them to do, but then deciding an easier option would be to go on holiday and decide about that later.

Has Jonah learnt his lesson? It's a good question. He seems to be eager to get on with whatever it is that God wants him to do, and ends up going to this 'great city' of Ninevah. It is pretty awesome. The text tells us that Ninevah took 3 days to visit the whole city. Seems like a long-weekend break destination, only without any of the comforts, because it's a pretty pagan city. Jonah walked through the whole city shouting a simple message (like God had told him to do, though truncated for sake of conscience on Jonah's part as we shall see).

"Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown!"

In the original language this 'sermon,' if you can call it that, is 4 words. Literally: "Forty days, Ninevah destroyed." No mention of God, no mention of a hope of salvation, no 3-step program on how to repent, no '30 second prayer,' Nothing. Just: This city is going down.

Now it's Ninevah's turn.

It did work, and the interesting phrase "And the people believed God" creates questions about how they knew it was Him that had spoken (unless there is some underlying knowledge we haven't seen reference to), and more importantly, in my opinion, how on earth did they know what to do? They fasted, mourned, put on sackcloth; all repentant type behaviour in my opinion.

This underlying knowledge is quite important to their salvation. It seems to me that these people had seen something that gave them and idea of who God was (rather than god or gods), and they had also seen how their actions were not merely different to another nation or city, but actually evil in comparison. The nation that would have modeled this (or at least should have, as their calling was) was the nation of Israel. They were called to be a light to the nations, to show the rest of the world who God really was and what He expected of His creation as a whole.

Their distinctness was their defining attribute that set them apart from the rest of the world in order for the world to truly perceive God. And the Ninevites had seen this and were being told by someone from Israel that the consequences to their complete lack of acknowledgement that their actions had any negative effect on them, would now be brought in front of their face with a big red cross marked "wrong". And yet, this knowledge didn't bring them to despair. They were just told how they would be wiped out by the all-powerful God, and instead of shouting "meaningless, everything is meaningless!" the king decreed a nationwide repentance. (It wasn't just people either, their livestock were covered in repentance clothing as well - take note of this for the future.)

Now, at this point God relents from bringing about doom on this city, which is explained later, and questions come into being about whether God changes or not. Which is a ridiculous premise because, actually, God doesn't change, though his actions do seem to react to the repentance of the city. His verdict is seemingly replaced. This deserves more detail so I'll leave it for next time...

Jonah Part 2

This is the next part of an extended summary of what the book of Jonah is about.

The build up

And Jonah runs in the opposite direction, in complete knowledge that the God He worships is the God of the whole world and wherever he runs it won't do much good to those around him, or himself. (That also happens to be a commentary on sinfulness in general: To go the opposite direction to where God wants you to be doesn't just hurt yourself but those around you as well.) When a storm begins to brew, like a nice cup of tea, the pagan sailors have more fear than Jonah, seeing as Jonah is asleep 'on the cushion' (remind you of Jesus...? Well, let's not get quite so carried away yet). Jonah, sleeping soundly in the boat, while a storm begins to tear the whole ship apart.

The captain went down to see if Jonah knew anything about the commotion, ("What's with all the commotion?!") and the answer was, of course, yes. Jonah knows exactly what's going on, it's almost as if he expected it. It looks like, this is funny, he thought he could run away from God, then, because God would punish him for running away, get killed by whatever that judgment would be (and let's have out in the open sea just in case) so that he would have no more to do with doing something that is against his own selfishness. It boils down to Jonah being a racist.

Here's the bit about the Fish

Jonah offers to be thrown into the sea, hoping desperately to drown. I can't think why else he would offer his own life. The reaction to the storm being settled by the 'Pagan Sailors' is awe and wonder and it causes them to worship. This is highly intriguing, but expected. The sacrifice of one man leads them to believe in that man's God. And yet, this is merely a highlight to the story. This still hasn't got to the main point. And we haven't got past the fish yet.

Jonah is in the sea, feeling sorry for himself no doubt, and God sends along a large fish to take Jonah into his belly. Then comes the prayer of Jonah. It pretty much takes up all of the second chapter of the book and there is one issue I have with the interpretations I've heard of it. The interpretations I've heard put this prayer down to a great faith stirrer, that even in the midst of his struggle Jonah prayed, and then God, in response, released Jonah from the fish onto dry land.

This isn't obvious when you read it. But I've heard preacher after preacher tell me that the application to this text is that if we have enough faith, and pray in this kind of way, Jesus will release us from the proverbial 'Belly of the fish.' According to the text, the prayer is in the past tense. It's all referring to something that's happened. "I turned to your holy temple" "you answered me" all these are about a past event. Anyone know what that past event is? (There aren't any prizes.)

Jonah is praying a great praise song to God because he was saved from drowning by a fish. He was grateful, secretly, that he had not died, and that God had saved him. He was immensely grateful for God saving him and prays a prayer that shows God he's sorry that he went the wrong way and he's grateful God didn't abandon him to death. I don't think we can deduce from the psalm here in chapter 2 that Jonah 'earned' (and I use that word for provocative reasons, not ever because I've heard a preacher or teacher say this outright) his salvation of being spat out of the fish through praying, but rather he responded to the salvation he had experienced from his drowning helpless state.

Then the Vomit happens.

We'll continue soon...

Who is Jonah? What was he for?

I read Jonah the other day. All of it. In about 10 minutes. So should you. Come back when you're done. Or read it here.

There is a traditional understanding that comes along with this book that gets on my nerves a bit. The main reason is there is so much focus on the 'large fish' that we lose the main thrust of the message laid out. You can tell what it's building to with the way the book climaxes then has an abrupt finish with a lot of questions left unanswered. Some are rhetorical, but some (the ones we're asking) linger for a while until we forget about what we were doing and go back to the washing up.

Why shouldn't we look at the big fish?

When I read the Bible, and most prominently the Gospels, the temptation is to jump in towards the end, read about Jesus suffering, dying, and rising, and then sit back and think about what just happened. I've been doing a series of Gospel overviews with my church at the moment and the impression I get is that the death and resurrection of Christ is incredibly important to the book, but the build up and implications of the events of Easter are what surround it in a profound way that would make it a mistake to overlook them.

We have a danger, also, of reading Jesus into the book of Jonah too soon. What I mean by that is, rather than allowing the book of Jonah to help us understand Jesus (especially when Jesus talks directly about 'The Sign of Jonah'), we see the big fish and spitting out of Jonah onto dry land, and assume that Jesus was talking about that and that that is what the story of Jonah is for: To see Jonah being swallowed and spat out.

This is not what the book is about. We know this because Jonah wasn't called to be swallowed by a fish and then spat out again. And before I get a lot of angry replies to all the masses who follow this blog with a great zeal, I want to say that just because Jonah wasn't called to be swallowed by a fish, doesn't mean Jesus wasn't called to die and rise again, we just need to read the story of Jonah in it's own right before we jump to conclusions about the author's intent.

Jonah's calling was to go tell the Ninevites that they were on the verge of destruction. Ninevah wasn't a particularly friendly place, and, more importantly, it was a pagan city, not a Jewish settlement. Jonah was reluctant to tell this pagan populous that God was going to destroy them for two reasons. (a) They were not Jewish, and if he told them it would lead to (b) the chance that they would repent of their sin if they heard the message of judgment.

Edit: This was going to be a short summary, but it's turned into a bit of a longer exegesis. I hope I'm keeping you in suitable suspense.

Next time... The Build up.

Discern the body

Has anyone had communion recently? When I say communion, I'd like to say I was talking about good friends getting together and drinking good coffee just having good times. But good coffee is hard to come by in the current climate; which is slightly muggy, but sunny and warm.

I'm talking about the religious communion, or eucharist, or the Lord's supper, or something. The bit that, if you've ever been to a church service, has men in robes handing out free alcohol. I was reading the bit in the Bible where Paul is talking about the Lord's supper, communion. 1 Corinthians 11 for those desperate to know what on earth I'm talking about. Paul has been trying to correct this church because it has gone off the rails, somewhat. At least in this first letter. By the time the second letter arrives they appear to have sorted out some of their issues and have other ones instead. But Paul in the first letter is instructing the church on how to actually do church. It's a telling point when Paul, out of sheer desperation, tells them 'When you meet together, you are doing more harm than good.' Not a particularly good review of a church, which it's main object is to meet together.

So they must be feeling a little silly. Or worse. And Paul brings up the subject of the Lord's supper, the meal Jesus shared with His disciples right before He was tried, crucified, buried, and was raised; the meal Jesus told His disciples to keep doing in remembrance of Him. Broken bread and poured wine; Jesus' broken body and gushing blood. There's a definite parallel, which is probably why He did it.

Paul is encouraging the Corinthians, to sort out their meetings so they go back to how it was supposed to be. The main thing being that it is important for them to eat together. The point of eating together is having everyone together. The point is not, as Paul tells them quite straightforwardly, for the rich people to arrive and eat as much as they can and get exceedingly drunk, and then the poor to turn up and eat scraps. The main reason for this is this distinction of rich and poor is not relevant in the new identity they are celebrating with this supper. The new identity they have is actually that of Jesus Himself.

In Ephesians Paul states that through the death of Jesus the 'wall of hostility' between rich, poor, slave, free, man woman, young, old, black, white, Jew, and other has been removed so there is no need to hold to your own 'kind' as it were. In Galatians Paul goes further, and says that anyone found in Christ (that is found to have faith in the Jewish Saviour, Jesus, and therefore in Him; to have whatever is true of Jesus is true of the believer) there is no distinction between male and female, Jew or Greek, slave or free. That's more than simply people not being hostile anymore. There is no distinction between them. Why? Because they are not identified by their own birth, work, occupation, etc. They are defined by Jesus.

So back to this Special Supper: They are doing more harm than good. They are segregating off these various types of people for the sake of food. Later on in the letter, Paul describes this new set of believers as a body: that is they are all parts of the same thing, rather than lots of different things coming together to see what can happen. They are joined by Jesus. They are part of one another, and part of Christ; mysterious and true.

But Paul tells them this stark statement: 'Anyone who eat and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.' Wow. What is this judgement? Does that apply to me? Well, if we understand that when Paul says 'the body' he means the church, of which they are all a part and joined together, then this is not merely looking at yourself and thinking 'Hmm... Are my hands clean today?' It's about discerning that you yourself are a part of something bigger. You are a part of everyone else. To miss this is to assume that Jesus mainly died for you on your own and this supper was made specially for you, and that does something terrible.

To miss the fact that anyone who believes in Jesus is part of something bigger of which Jesus is one with them and they are One with everyone else and Jesus (in a weird, but true, way), is to diminish the work of Christ. Jesus didn't die so you could have something to eat. Jesus died and rose again to bring all of these people to the same place, regardless of who they are, race, sex, class, aside. Through Jesus this diverse group of people is brought together to celebrate in the death that brought them together, and enjoy the resurrection life that brings into communion with one another and communion with Christ.

The one question you might still be thinking about:

Why does this mean judgement? If you diminish the work of Christ, His work wasn't fully sufficient for the history of the church. And that's bad news.

How to read the Bible...

If you find a book of books on your shelf that somewhere near the end says about Jesus "Lord of lords, and King of kings," this is called a bible. I recommend opening it once in a while. I'd say it would be you reading the text, but it is more, if you become truly open to what it's saying, like it starts to read you. It points out your motivations you're not proud of, or brings you comfort as you see others failing where you failed, but being restored, or you see others suffering as you're suffering and begin to know someone else knows about it too.

If you're serious about discovering God, revealed through Jesus, and seeking relationship with the creator, there is something incredibly precious about seeking deep Truths from the Bible. It is a collection of inspired writings that are united by the theme of Jesus, though more than half the authors don't know His name. As you get deep into a text you're allowed to ask it questions. It's not a straight forward manual of 'Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth'. It hardly has any basic instructions at all. The first five books get so complicated it's hard to wade through the complexities. Reading about Jesus is refreshing and then challenging, as He represents the God of the Jews, not really fitting into the mould that others have created for Him. I'm not talking about those He came into contact with Him, though they do play a part, but more the thousands of people who try to explain Him as a person, outside the writers of the New Testament. Those writers clear up a few issues, then bring fresh mystery to His character.

There are some simple practical guidelines to reading a text from the Bible, but most of them involve reading it. If you've been in church for a while preachers begin to become predictable in what they'll say about a text. They stop looking at the text, instead find a theme that is flagged by the text and spend more time on the theme than what was written. You end up with a church that finds a letter written 2000 years very confused what he actually wrote.

Imagine reading Paul's letter to the Philippians, and getting to the instruction "shine like stars" and your preacher thought the application was "share Jesus with more people." Stars don't try and get brighter. But I'm told I should. I don't know who to believe. The Apostle Paul who wrote a lot of fine stuff about Jesus, or my pastor who admits his lack of knowledge all the time. The answer comes by reading. Faith comes by hearing. The Bible fills itself with power, and as I read sections of the Scripture I find myself truly enlightened by what is going on. The World makes more sense, I gain perspective about myself.

Here's what to do: Pick up the Bible, put down any pens you might have to relieve yourself of a temptation to underline that which is particularly relevant to you at the moment, and search for Jesus. What was He about? Is that here in the text? (The answer is yes, you just need to find it.) And then allow that to take over what you think about everything. Everything.

P.S. I've started to write a book. Proof-readers are wanted!

Responsibility

West Wing, Season 5. Leo claims that he and his friend had the duty to act with integrity and responsibility on behalf of the men that died to save him and his friend from their situation; being stranded in a jungle in the middle of a war.

Duty. Integrity. Responsibility. If I was told to be a better person because someone died being better than me (sound familiar) I don't think it would work. Look at him...your turn! He was the best at loving people. Now you've seen Him love people, you must. Now you've seen Him look after the poor, the sick, the dying, the outcast, the lost; you must.

An undying message that because he did I really should. Only that doesn't help me. It generally brings me to despair. Of course if I'm meeting the standards being represented, it doesn't lead to despair, but pride. So I either, by looking at another persons 'example', feel guilty, or proud.

I don't think those are good results. There is another way. Rather than look at how He cares for people; now you've seen it do it. It should be told: He cared for people much more than you ever would. His life, death, and resurrection was a fulfillment of all care for all time. So now you can. You CAN care, because He cared to the end.

He looked at the broken and loved them whole. Then, at the end of his ministry, he was broken beyond anyone had ever been, He was rejected by every friend and enemy, even by His Father, experiencing and absorbing all the brokenness ever experienced, and in His resurrection, He defeated brokenness forever. And in Him anyone who looks at and worships Him, can bring wholeness to the broken, and healing to the sick, and the outcast can come home, because He already did it. It isn't a Duty. It's a joy. It's a responsibility because we, who know Him (Jesus), want to do more than theorise. And integrity is a gift as we further increase, in our hearts, the understanding the He has done it.

What part of finished don't you understand?

No Going Back

Some time before I was born, a whole bunch of people were traveling toward a desert, being pursued by an army of Egyptians. Traveling is not really the right word, it was more like fleeing. Regrettably they found themselves between a sea of soldiers and the Red Sea. An older fellow called Moses, who was leading them, stood before them and encouraged them that their God had rescued them and that He wouldn't have led them to die. As he stood at the waters edge he struck his staff (which has a great story behind it) against the water and the sea began to separate.

This is the beginning of a great reminder summarised by the Jewish God, YHWH, who calls Himself, the God who 'brought you out of Egypt'. The parting of the sea was a defining moment. God was going to do the impossible in order to save the Israelites from their oppressors. It was defining because they had left their home, plundered their masters, and headed off. The Egyptians pursued them, wanting them back, even though they had suffered consequences from keeping them under duress, and had finally given in to letting them go. I don't think the Egyptians saw clearly very often. The Israelites walked on dry ground...on the bed of the Red Sea. And then the Egyptians followed. It's one thing to pursue your ex-slaves, but to rush into an impossible situation created by your oppositions' God, and thinking you'll win? That's just plain dumb.

So the Israelites came to the other side of the sea. They stood on the shore, watching the Egyptians ride after them...and then the walls of sea either side of them caved in and the Egyptian army, and Pharaoh, and maybe some curious birds, drowned. Gone. Done with. And the Israelites were safe. On top of that great drama, they couldn't go back. Through some miracle they had made a decision to leave shelter for the desert, and once through the sea walls, there was no going back. No way.

As the Israelites travelled through the desert they did do the odd bit of complaining about life not being quite as luxurious as in Egypt ("Oh, the cucumbers!"), but they couldn't go back. They couldn't return to their previous life. And they had taken a hole lot of good things from their previous life, but they couldn't return. The good had come, but their old masters, slave-masters, and the systems that oppressed them to be worthless, had been done away with; destroyed. They hadn't come with them into their new life.

When Christians get baptised they feel a bit weird. What am I doing exactly? they think. Of course I'm still realising, even today, the significance of my baptism. There's the simple truth that I die (with Jesus on the cross, where he died in my place) to myself, my old life, and rise with Jesus (because he is the resurrection). Then there's more complex things going on I only realise now. Like the comparison made with baptism and the Exodus; the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt through the Red Sea. And I realise there's no going back. I can't go back to my old life. I've got some good stuff, because God isn't completely vindictive and until we accept him have a horrible existence, and I've also left behind the old master. The things that oppressed me, made me do things against my better judgment.

And why did it take me this long to figure out? I'd like to blame a lot of things, but my most basic reason is something I'm going to write a book on, I think. That baptism (a couple of years ago) saved me. That will upset some people. Because baptism also doesn't save you. Jesus saved me. And baptism was that in a public, active form. No one told me what baptism would do, because it's a scary thing to say that this immersion in water is more than that. But I'm so glad I did it, rather than listen to the teaching, think of it as an obligation, and decide against it. Baptism in water is so vital for everyone who believes in Jesus, there is no going back once it's happened. It changes everything.

I don't ever want to dry off.

How to Change

There are generally two kinds of people, morally: Those who care and those who don’t. The majority of people care, but are hypocrites. The others, those who don’t care, are also hypocrites. The differences aren’t actually in the person, but in the people around them. Those who don’t care justify themselves claiming they aren’t hurting anyone. This is hypocritical because they feel they have to make excuses for actions they shouldn’t care about. It’s also lying because it usually hurting someone.

Those who care have worked out a morality that they want to live by, only they don’t. That is as simple as hating it when people lie to them, but creating half-truths for everyone else so they only see a false representation of them. This is solved by self-discipline, we discover.

If I am to live by these rules I’d better get my act together; it’s not going to happen by wishing, is it?

This usually lasts 2-3 days:
I will keep my workspace tidy
Ø 3 days
I will wash up after every meal
Ø 3 days
I will say thank you to anyone who helps me
Ø 3 days
I will keep my bedroom clean
Ø 2 days

This actually doesn’t make you a better person. It simply accentuates your natural ability to fail. There are about 6 strong-willed people in the world, and they can’t relate to this, but their issue is in being unable to rest, and regroup. Be where they and no thinking about other things, either next or tomorrow; or on holiday.

When Jesus came to show a life that is actually living, there was something different about his treatment of people. He expected nothing from anyone. Sure he spoke with discipline at times, but it wasn’t done out of disgust, but with a heart of service. When Jesus walks on the scene, miracles, people, and his disciples somewhere in the crowd, following him, he doesn’t ask anything of anyone. He said he didn’t come to be served, but to serve. He came to show how true authority is true generosity.

His ultimate accumulation of service happened as he died, taking the punishment for the selfishness of the world’s corruption. His achievement was that through his death and the defeat of death and corruption in his resurrection, was the freedom that brought in those who trusted him. They were free to give themselves fully to the service of others.

One follower of Jesus wrote, later on in the growth of this community of believers, about the Spirit that lives in a Christian: The fruit of the Spirit living in you is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-discipline.” Notice how self-discipline is part of the life of a follower of Jesus, not something that will make you more loving or joyful or faithful or patient.

These attributes come out of self-giving service to others. What might that mean for you? Before you answer that, talk to Jesus. He knows you better than you do.

The Direction of Art

I find myself at a loss for words, so often, when challenged with art that is genuinely repulsive. Either I hate it because it's just rubbish; there is no talent involved in placing a shopping trolley in a white room. Or I dislike it because it causes a reaction in me of utter disgust. However, if the aim of Art is to captivate the audience, these two forms are on their way with getting my attention. Regardless of how long I perceive these artforms, I can't describe my reaction as 'captivated.' A sunset captivates me; the flight of millions of swallows; water down a plug hole. I know art is a relative world, but I can't imagine anyone ever being captivated by a series of boxes piled just right so that it looks like a genuine pile of boxes.

אהבה

Transliteration

'ahabah

Pronunciation

a·hab·ä

Three Hebrew words make up the translation into English of Love. It shows how redundant our language can become.

First comes

Transliteration ra`yah

Pronunciation rah·yä'

Second comes

Transliteration 'ahabah

Pronunciation a·hab·ä

And third comes

Transliteration dowd

Pronunciation dode

ra `yah is the kind of love two friends have. It's better than companionship, because it's like saying I've seen you in the good times, and I've seen you in the really bad times, and I'm still walking with you. That's a good friend.

dowd is what people try to recreate in sex. It doesn't work because sex is the final outworking of a great love. It can be translated as a mingling. But a deep mingling of two souls.

'ahabah is the bit linking to two. It's more than commitment. It's when your spouse is about to kill you and you stand there with them and say 'I'm not going anywhere.'
It's beyond commitment. When you have such great hostility thrown at you and you stand, or hide behind something but still very much in the same room, and say '...there's no place I'd rather be than here, right here with you.'

That's an insane kind of commitment, that is more than someone who stands by you when you're in a bad place, under attack from something, or everything just seems to be going wrong, they stand right there with you, holding you up while you take flak.

They stand right there with you while you pour hot coals over their head, or punch them in the arms, or steal something from them, take a pleasure away from them, they stand by you. Telling you, "I'm not going anywhere."

This is God to you. How much have you done to go against His friendship? Hold everythnig back because you want it to be yours? Not involved Him in something He knows He needs to be involved in? Simply ignored His outstretched hands continually? Or even you lead yourself into a terrible place of having nothing, no one around you, and no support wherever you turn. You've put yourself in a place where everything just falls down around you.

Jesus just turns to you and says, not only, 'I'm right here with you,' but also, "and I'm not going anywhere. There's no place I'd rather be than with you."

Going back a few steps

Your relationship with God is only effected by what you put in the way, not what He puts in the way. No matter what you do, the message of acceptance doesn't change, because it's not about you, it's about Him. If, for example, you put not believing in God between you and God, you're not going to have a great relationship with Him at all.

What an introductory thought. Imagine your surprise when the mime artist is actually in a glass box?!

Actually, we usually act the other way when it comes to Jesus. "He won't accept me because [insert embarrassing fact about yourself]"

How often have I, in my knowledge of superabundant grace, decided I can't quite approach God with quite as much confidence as I'd like? I feel a bit stupid to have constructed a massive lie because I was 5 minutes late. Why on earth would I do that? Why would I change my opinion according to who I'm talking to?

This isn't supposed to be a confession, yet we all do it. We all decide we are unworthy of going to into God's presence (which is dead on), but forget that we want to approach Him, despite out decisions we can't, because of the work of Jesus.

Have fun...