tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36348218735152893992024-03-13T09:42:56.533+00:00Phil & Mags Tyler's BlogMags and Phil will take turns to share<br>their thoughts and ponderings with the world.Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-79326216864013684172020-05-05T16:19:00.003+01:002020-05-05T16:20:24.634+01:00God Is Love<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would guess that no matter which denomination of Christian
faith you belong to the statement ‘God is love’ would be fairly fundamental to
your beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve heard many preachers over
the years talk about this and many have gone on to say that love is the
fundamental nature or character of God, that it’s the very core of his identity,
that he loves us because that is who he is; and not because we’ve earned that love
in some way either through our faith or our religious acts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also heard quite a few sermons dealing
with the nature of humanity talk about our requirement to choose to follow
Jesus, to love God and to submit our will to his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All fairly normal Western Christianity so far,
I think you’d agree?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But imagine your wife, husband, life partner,
significant other, boyfriend or girlfriend on the day you first met arriving on
the scene automatically and unthinkingly loving you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had no say in it, they were just programmed
that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would that be meaningful? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might satisfy you temporarily, especially
if you’d not experienced much in way of love prior to that point, but for the
long haul?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could you honestly derive any
satisfaction from their love, would it even feel real if they had no choice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No one wants a robot to love them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What makes being loved so wonderful is the knowledge that someone, who
clearly had a choice, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of their own free will </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">chose you!.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think the same must be true of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy
Spirit have a choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are God, the
supreme all-powerful, all-knowing, all-in-all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But they have decided that love is the best way. They chose love to be
their defining characteristic, to love each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The triune God choosing love not strength, or
might, or power, or force or anger or hate or logic or fear to be the bedrock of their
interconnectedness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They chose, or perhaps,
choose constantly to love us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly,
the way humanity has behaved and continues to behave towards the planet and towards
each other this choice can’t be an easy one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus in the garden, when wrestling with what he knew was ahead of him
on the cross, is recorded as saying ‘not my will but yours’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He chose the way of love, just as God the
Father had chosen it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So remember that the next time you feel
unloved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God loves you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not because she’s* an automaton, unable to
act against her in-built nature, no, God loves you, knowing you inside and out,
beginning from end, because she sees all that you are and all you could be and
makes a choice to love and always will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You are loved.</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* I’m using both traditional gender pronouns for
God deliberately as all gender characteristics are in the image of God and we
have to stop thinking of God as a solitary bearded elderly white man on a cloud!</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-91362729388323109912018-04-14T19:42:00.000+01:002018-04-14T19:42:00.753+01:00The woman at the well<br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once upon a
time, in a land far far away there lived a woman and this is her story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She had been
brought up in the mountains with her older brothers and younger sister. Life
was hard, always work to be done, not enough time to do it. Water needed to be
brought from the stream, animals fed and cleaned out, food to prepare, brushing
out the dust, washing to do and other chores given to her by her mother. It was
so cold in the winter and the warmth from the fire never seemed to reach her
bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She knew
from a young age that something in the household arrangements was unfair. Her
brothers didn’t help out at all, they just played and went out with their
father leaving her , her mother and sister to do the all the chores. She longed
to go with them, to see where they went, not to stay at home and work. They
seemed so happy and full of adventure. When she raised the obvious imbalance in
workload or suggested one of the boys in the household might want to clean up a
little it just led to arguments that only left her feeling more isolated. As
she grew older she looked forward to the summers when the snow would melt and
she could sneak away sometimes and wander into the mountain to find a quiet
spot where she could see far into the distance. She would sit and imagine life
away from the mountain and away from her family. The time away was worth the
argument with her mother and sister on her return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As time
passed her brothers left, they were told to go and find wives or a living. She
was glad to see the back of them as their behaviour and mess had grown with
their size. Once they had all gone her father seemed a bit lost without them
and murmured about living in a house with just women. He seemed more and more
ungrateful with each meal prepared for him. Her sister on the other hand
appeared to be flourishing, she had always seemed happy with the work and now
she had more time to spend chatting away to mother which made the household
even more frustrating to live in. One grumpy old man and two chattering women,
she was in desperate need of a rescue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few weeks
before her fifteenth birthday a man came to the house and sat with her father
talking and drinking for hours into the night and in the morning was introduced
as her fiancé! She was horrified. Her mother took her aside and explained that
the time had come for her to be married and the man was a relative from the
valley and would be a good husband for her. Her mother had no kind words for
her only facts. They were to be married a month later and the only warm thoughts
she had related to leaving her family behind and the chance for some adventure
in the Valley. The people who came to the wedding seemed very happy to see her
married and her brothers returned for the celebrations, some with wives and
children, others looking pretty much the same as when they left. Her father was
the happiest she’d seen him in a while and her mother was rushing around like a
whirlwind. After the celebration was over the man loaded up the wagon and they
left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After
travelling down the mountain they came to a village and a small house which was
to be her new home. She was afraid and excited. She had left the mountain life
behind but was not happy to be married to a man she did not know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was a
hard working man and left each day to work in the Olive groves. He would return
each evening, have his dinner and go to the bar leaving her behind to tidy up
and wait for his return. She was bored. The other women in the village were
friendly, showed her where the market was and helped her understand how to be a
good wife. But after a couple of years when there was no child the women of the
village stopped calling by and would avoid her at the market. Her husband
stopped coming home for his dinner and went straight from work to the bar. Some
nights he did not come home at all. When she had not had a child after three
years the gossip started, after all no one knew her, she hadn’t grown up in the
village. Some of the children had started to throw pebbles at her without any
rebuke from their parents. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One night
she sat alone and remembered those times on the mountainside when she had
dreamed about her future and her hopes seemed to be drifting away. She decided
to leave before they were gone completely. She packed a bag and left, she
doubted she would even be missed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She walked
and walked, sleeping by the side of the road and stealing food from wagons
passing her on the road. She arrived at the outskirts of a town feeling
distraught and looking dishevelled. An old woman saw her and took her in,
cleaned her up and suggested she stay with her for a while. She accepted, not
only did she have no-where else to go but at least she could help the old woman
with cleaning, it appeared to be her only talent. The old woman’s sons and
husband had left to go to war and had all been killed leaving her a widow and
childless without anyone to care for her. It appeared a new home had been
found. When people asked who she was they were told that she was a
daughter-in-law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In her early
twenties she fell in love. He was a handsome young man who brought the wood.
One night he came and asked the old woman if they could be married. She agreed
with the understanding that they were to live with her once married. It was a
small wedding but she felt happier now than she had ever felt. Not long after
they had a son and she was overwhelmed with the joy of her family. Two years
pass and when a fever hit the town, the old woman and her son succumb. Her
husband was so devastated at the loss of his son he left. She was alone again.
She stayed for some time in the town but couldn’t shake off the memories and decided
to move on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At thirty
she married the local bar tender for security. She did not want to be alone.
One night a fight broke out and her husband was killed. Her brother in law
married her out of tradition. This marriage doesn’t last as he was in love with
another woman and one night she found he had left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She moved
on. She was empty, hopeless and lost. She came to a village and had just enough
money to rent a room behind the butchers. She got a job with the butcher, her
childhood experience of dealing with animals put her in good stead with the
butcher and when he offered marriage she accepted. It would save money on the
rent so seemed the most convenient thing to do and whilst she didn’t love him
he wasn’t a bad man. Sometimes at night she would sit in the yard and look out
at the stars. Her husband would tell her stories about the history of the
region and its different religions when they were working, which whilst she
thought were interesting thought he had made most of them up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Time passed
and the butcher died in his sleep one night. One of his customers took a liking
to her and suggested she move in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So here she
is at 40, back at the beginning, cleaning, washing and fetching water. This
morning she gets up and sits on the bed and thinks about her life. She
remembers her son and a tear trickles down her cheek. She wonders whether her
first two husbands were remarried and had children. She wondered whether she
should have stayed with the first one. She is desperately lonely and fears her
future will hold no joy for her and if it will just contain more grief. She
remembers the mountainside and her dreams and another tear falls. She takes a
few deep breaths and remembers it is time to get the water. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She picks up
the water jar and realises there must be more water in it than she thought and
decides to go tomorrow instead. As she puts the jar down a stone flies through
the door, hits the jar and smashes it. The stone throwing had got worse
recently and other than shout at the children there wasn’t much she could do
about it. She gathers up the pieces and brushed away the spilled water. She
picks up another water jar and heads for the well on the edge of town, it will
be quieter there and the other women will have gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As she
approaches she sees a man leaning against the well, a stranger to the village
and as she approaches she thinks he has lost his way. He looks weatherworn and
she notes that he must have been travelling for some days from the amount of
dust on his clothes. His sandals are beside him and his feet are just showing
from under his cloak. He appears to be sleeping. She balances the jar on the
edge of the well quietly so as not to disturb him. As she reaches for the rope
he moves and looks up at her. Their eyes meet and for a moment time stops, she
can hear nothing but her heart beating and then he speaks....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Can you get
me a drink of water?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-59689818533094193472018-04-14T19:39:00.003+01:002018-04-14T19:39:52.827+01:00Eve still getting the blame after all these years!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through-out
history and on a global scale women have been more oppressed, more deprived,
more used and abused than men. Women have been considered the lesser of the
sexes, disregarded as weaker, portrayed as manipulating and dangerous. Her
femininity brought into disrepute by calling them ‘wiles’ and in more recent
times any woman who pushed her head above the parapet to point out inequality
was labelled a feminist and to be disregarded as militant.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women who
are successful in their spheres are blamed for not being at home and those that
choose to stay home to look after children and the home are mocked as a ‘stay
at home mom’ and economically punished. In the church they fight for equality,
in the workplace they fight for equality and at home they fight for equality in
chores, childcare and financial decision-making. Women have strived for
equality and are still fighting for the truth that they are as valuable and
worthy of honour and respect as men but are still subject to inherited blame
when bad things happen to them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There have
been women blazing a trail for equality who have made improvements in some
parts of the world but it is still not an agreed principle by everyone
everywhere that women are equal to men.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let’s
start with the first story in our human history and there in the whisper at the
back of our minds is the woman who ruined it for everyone and therefore she and
her daughters deserve what they get. She is the second human being, she is
created after Adam out of his ribs and therefore subject to his whims and his
power. If we read the story rather than believe the shared myth, we find Adam
lonely, longing for something that is like him. God creates Eve out of Adam’s
rib and not out of dust. She is also made in the likeness of God and
created to be his helper in equality to look after the earth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is
created in equality and until we can get rid of the myth that she is ‘less
than’ we will continue to fight for equality and shout in rallies that women
are not to blame!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To blame
women comes so naturally when they experience abuse, so ingrained in our minds
that women can believe it too! ’What did I do to bring this on myself’? The
blame starts; ‘Where was she and how was she dressed? Why was she there,
why did she allow this to happen? Why did she trust him? Why didn’t she just
leave or call for help?’ We blame the woman first and the blame brings the
fear, the shame and the silence. We teach each other to stay safe; to not walk
alone at night, to not get too drunk at a party and to cover our drinks when in
the pub in case they get drugged, if you’re on the late bus do not sit
upstairs, not to flirt, not to be too friendly, not to, not to, not to and so
the lists goes on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are
living in a time where we have the #metoo campaign and rallies and Women’s
marches and a hope that the myth that women are there as a commodity to use and
abuse is diminishing. The #metoo is helping women feel they are not alone and
not to blame and once the blame goes the fear, the shame and the silence are
also on the way out. Women are becoming more vocal, going on marches and
calling for more and swifter change and we hope beyond hope that the men are
watching, listening and believing in equality. Hoping that we will hear from
more men standing with women to say it’s time to change attitudes and
behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’ve had an advert
campaign about consent and we need more, more teaching our young and old men
that women are not ‘less than’ them, not a commodity to use and abuse.
Instilling in our minds, enough to override the old myth, that women are equal
and society will be at his best and most civilised when we have mutual respect
for the opposite sex. Once we see another human as worthy of honour, respect
and love regardless of their status, race, sexuality or gender we might find we
are living in a civilised society. If we could help each other to be the best
we can be rather than oppressing one half of the human population what a
difference it would make to our planet.</span></span></div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-26494261262600274982017-11-27T08:39:00.002+00:002017-11-27T15:23:04.372+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 9 – 26th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A busy day today!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The churches in South Africa do like to start early on a Sunday
morning!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Haven’t they heard of having a
lie-in on the day of rest?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey and I
were down for breakfast at 7am as we were being picked up by Andre at
7:45.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The breakfast wasn’t quite as good
as the day before, the bacon was a bit dry and the sausages weren’t as
good.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perhaps it God’s way of telling me
to stop eating so much fatty food on the road as I doubt it’s doing my expanding
waistline any good!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was granola
cereal though, which they didn’t have yesterday, so that made up for it.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I love cereal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Saturday John, the
pastor, accidentally introduced me as Nigel to someone and only the next time
he did it did I correct him to Phil. We
all had a laugh about it and it’s become the running joke of the weekend with
him referring to it a couple of times. I
guess Godfrey’s just relieved to not get called Geoffrey all the time!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andre picked us up in his really rather lovely
4.2l Audi A8 and whisked us off to ACF.
His wife wasn’t with him this morning as she is a very keen runner and
was doing a short 15k run that morning!
I’d die if I had to run 15k.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The band at the church did three songs at the
start of the meeting at 9am then Godfrey shared his talk and as usual
absolutely nailed it. The crowd
responded enthusiastically to the good news we’ve got, in words and songs! It’s heartening that in all kinds of church
settings you can pretty much guarantee that the gospel will go down well no
matter the style of church, the theology they have, the traditions they have or
whatever. People love to hear the good
news that they’re in, that God is not disappointed with them and they are
precious beyond measure. So many folks
were obviously having a free revelation of this foundational truth and came and
told us so at the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andre and his brother Marius and his family took
us for lunch at a nice restaurant with John & Bev. I had steak for the first time on this trip
and it was a good one with an excellent pepper and cream sauce. Godfrey was pretty tired as it’s been quite a
long morning and he needed to sleep before tonight’s gospel party so Andre took
us back to the hotel. My right shoulder
had started to ache and it’s definitely down to the electric drum kit, you just
don’t get the bounce-back you do on acoustic drums and cymbals so there’s a lot
more work for your muscles to do, especially when playing faster songs like ‘Gospel
Train’ and ‘The Wine Is Alive’.
Hopefully a couple of hours rest will sort me out and if not I’ve got
paracetamol and ibuprofen with me! A
very smartly dressed young black lady got in the lift with what initially
looked like a large oddly shaped suitcase when we go to the hotel, but when she
got off on the sixth floor I realised it was a massage table. The hotel does have a fitness centre, not
that I’ve been anywhere near it, so they must also offer massages in your
room. I thought my shoulder could do
with some of that but I would be far too weirded out getting a massage in my
room from anyone, man or woman, unless Mags was there too. Maybe I’m more prudish than I thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Andre picked us up again at about 5pm to get to
the meeting which starts about 6pm and Godfrey wanted to just double check the
words on their system and put ‘Wild Goose’ in there, as several people had
requested it. It’s not a song he or I
have played for many years but it is a lot of fun so he’s keeping it in
reserve. When we got there we were
delighted to see that Chereen and her husband Vian and her dad Gordon were
there with a lady friend of Gordon’s who I think was called Daphne. I was so glad to meet Vian having heard some
of their story from Chereen and he’s a lovely man, very easy to like and we
chatted about motorbikes for a while.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The church band were going to start with three
songs so I went to sit at the back and watch and they did an improvised jam to
start which was really good and I filmed a little section of it with my phone
and whacked it on FaceBook, then they did their songs. It’s good to be in a church where although
the songs were unfamiliar to me they were at least New Covenant songs and not
all about pleading, and striving! Who
needs to sing about that nonsense? The church needs to sing songs of how great
our God is and who we are in Christ to remind ourselves as we forget so easily. As most people in a church get their theology
from what they sing it’s important to sing the truth not a load of either theological
twaddle or Old Covenant do-do. Most
folks can’t remember a damn thing the preacher said five minutes after they’ve
left the meeting, no matter how good she/he was but they’ll remember the lyrics
to the songs and sing them at home or in the car, so we need to reinforce the
gospel not the lament! (Rant over!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the end of R U Ready I did a little drum break
on the snare and Godfrey said ‘Nigel’s such a good drummer’ and then the crowd
started chanting ‘Nigel…Nigel’ over and over.
It’s good being in a church that doesn’t take itself too seriously and
can have a laugh. We did do ‘Wild Goose’
right at the end but it was not fun to play on the electric kit, that song
requires some complex floor tom work with quiet ghost notes and then suddenly some
crashing power and the electric kit simply cannot respond well enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the meeting we had some food from the ladies
in the church kitchen and said our goodbyes to everyone. There is currently a plan for Godfrey, and
hopefully me, to come back in May next year to do the worship at their
conference and if that can work out work and dates-wise that’d be brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we got back to the hotel we popped into the
bar for a quick beer and both of us got propositioned by ladies of negotiable
affection, one very subtly and one right out in the open as bold as brass. You’ll be unsurprised to read we politely but
firmly declined and decided to beat a hasty retreat to our rooms! I was quite surprised that a quality hotel
like this wasn’t a bit more on the ball about allowing that on their
premises. It’s sad though to encounter
people in that situation, I don’t imagine it’s anyone’s first choice of a way
to earn money. Desperation can take
people to some dark places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow we fly back home at about 8pm in the
evening, arriving at Heathrow about 5:30am I think. Then it’s a drive up North to where Mags will
meet us to pick me up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s been an amazing trip and I’ve met some
wonderful people.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-41631097561220206592017-11-25T20:55:00.003+00:002017-11-25T21:06:43.777+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 8 – 25th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So judgement day has arrived, the four horsemen
are heralding the apocalypse, my doom is upon me, all my nightmares are come
true; I am sitting behind an electric drum kit!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But before we get to that lets rewind to a happier time, a time of
innocence, a time of blessing; breakfast.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Breakfast was good.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sausage,
mushrooms, beans (clearly not Heinz though), bacon, cups of tea, cereal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ahhh hotel breakfast I do love you so.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I will never cheat on you with a greasy spoon
café, I shall remain faithful and love you always.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ok now I’m in my happy place reminiscing about
hotel breakfasts I can face the trauma.
We were picked up by JD about 9:35 and it was only a short drive to the
Airport Christian Fellowship’s building which is undergoing considerable
expansion work. The guys in the band and
doing the words/PA were there to great us and were lovely friendly people. The pianist, keyboard player and guitarist
had clearly worked hard to learn the songs and really didn’t need much
rehearsing at all just a few prods in the right direction for when to dial it down
and when to build it up which always makes this process a lot easier. One of the guys helped me move the electric
drum pads into slightly more comfy positions for me and helped with programming
the ‘brain’ to make a sound somewhat similar to real drums. Helga the keyboard player is apparently their
regular drummer and she hates the electric kit too and calls it ‘the plastic
drums’. Barend was playing lead guitar
and showed us a nice solo in R U Ready?
It’s a bit odd not to have a bass player when there’re two sets of
keyboards but we didn’t seem to really notice the lack. The electric drums are, as expected, execrable. No subtlety is possible, the triggers in the
cymbals are awful and only trigger every other strike unless you pound them,
which kind of misses the point. The
snare and kick sound pretty good but the toms sound completely fake, nothing
like real toms at all. I must have had a
face on like someone chewing a wasp during the rehearsal because JD came over
and asked if I was OK! I assured him it’d
be OK and that I’m just not used to electric drums as I’ve no idea how to get a
good sound out of them. I presume if you’ve
loads of experience with them you can fiddle with the ‘brain’ and get a good
sound but that’s not me. As I always say I’m not really a musician ‘I just hit
things with sticks’. The thing I miss
the most is real cymbals, electric drums can sound adequate (they’re never good
or even a close second to real acoustic drums) but electric cymbals are
complete and utter pants. You’d be
better off hitting dustbin lids. You get
one sound, ‘ting’, and you can vary how loud the ‘ting’ is a bit by hitting it
harder but I use brushes, beaters, tips, ends, edge of sticks, my hands
everything on cymbals and you can get a dozen different sounds out of one reasonable
cymbal. You can add some atmosphere and
background to the quite moments, you can build a crescendo or choke a crash to
a dead stop for dramatic effect with even cheap real cymbals. With electric ones you can go ‘ting’. Yay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK, now I’ve vented my spleen about how utterly,
utterly, utterly, utterly pitiful and inadequate to the task electric kits are
(and for the price of a reasonable electric kit you could buy two acoustic ones)
I shall move on. Honest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The pastor, John Wasserman, arrived and chatted
with us before taking us for lunch at a nice place nearby. We had a good time and were joined by a guy
called Andre and his friend who were going to be doing some stuff at the
meeting that evening. I had a chicken,
mushroom and pasta dish and Godfrey had prawns.
I felt like I usually do when eating in a restaurant with Mags, I should’ve
had what he had! Mine was good but his
looked spectacular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got back to the hotel quite late so only had an
hour and a bit to rest before being picked up for the evening meeting. Our key cards had both mysteriously stopped
working on our doors when we got back, but fortunately we didn’t have to go all
the way back to reception from the eighth floor as a lady with a master key
happened by just as we set off and she let us in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we were leaving the hotel it had gone quite
cold and there’d clearly been a lot of rain and there was more on the way. Perhaps this is God’s way of acclimatising us
for getting back to England in November! We both needed our coats to go
outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we got to the meeting the Pastor did some
welcomes and introductions and handed out some of his teaching DVDs and anointing
oil to the visiting pastors in the room and included Godfrey and me in that.
Then he introduced Godfrey and me and we took to the stage with the band and
got the fun started. The crowd was
lively and enthusiastic and seemed to love the songs, both older more familiar
ones and the newer ones. The words, as
often happens, seemed to get a bit scrambled at one point and wouldn’t come on
for one song, technology eh? I felt
sorry for the person operating the words and bet it worked fine when they tested
it earlier! It didn’t matter much though
really. According to those present the
electric kit sounded OK out in the auditorium but it seemed a bit quiet to me,
and also the cymbals and some of the toms seemed to cut out occasionally and
not make any sound when hitting them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After Godfrey had finished, the pastor and the
visiting guy Andre prayed for and ministered to quite a few people then we did
a couple more songs to finish off including ‘Outrageous Grace’. There’s NOTHING for the drummer to do in that
until the last word of the last line of the last verse and then it blasts in
for that and the final chorus. It’s
amazingly effective to remain silent up to that point and then suddenly
arrive. I’ve not played it for over ten
years I guess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was food after the meeting and it was
great. They have on-site cooks and I had
a burger sized meatball thing with a name I can’t remember and probably couldn’t
pronounce with a fantastic salad with feta, avocado, lettuce, cucumber, tomato
plus some potatoes cooked in creamy sauce.
Man it was really good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got a ride back to the hotel and had a quick
drink in the bar to chat and unwind before heading to bed. We’ve got an early start tomorrow. The meeting starts at 9am so we’ll need to have
breakfast at 7am as we’re being picked up at 7:45! Wow I love the fact that Pioneer (our local
church at home) meets about 10:30 and doesn’t start until 11am. How very civilized. By hey, this is Africa and they love an early start here!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More fun to come on our last day of meetings
tomorrow I think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-56464501730466387082017-11-25T05:48:00.001+00:002017-11-25T21:00:06.609+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 7 – 24th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was up about 7:30am packing my suitcase and
rucksack ready to head to Johannesburg a bit later this morning.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Somehow despite only buying one t-shirt while
here my case seems to weigh twice as much as at the start of this trip!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a good breakfast with Chereen and her father
Gordon then loaded our stuff into Gordon’s huge Toyota as our stuff wouldn’t
fit into Chereen’s little VW.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey
gave Gordon one of his CDs as a little parting gift; I hope he listens to
it.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He’s a lovely man and Chereen would
love him to grasp the message of his inclusion in the finished work of the cross.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chereen drove us the hour and a half or so the
Premier Hotel (not a UK style Premier Inn – a nice hotel) which is right next
to the O R Tambo International Airport. She and her father have looked after us so wonderfully. I'm so grateful for people like that who can put you at your ease in their home and make you welcome. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was quite uncomfortable for me to
have people take my bags off me and put them in one of those baggage trolleys
you see in the movies and show us to our rooms, I’d rather take my own bag but
I guess these guys have a job to do and a tip to earn. My room faced directly into the airport and
you could see the planes taking off and landing, Godfrey’s was directly
opposite and only had a view of the end of the runway so we swapped as he loves
plane watching.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a light lunch in the hotel bar and spent the
afternoon relaxing. I did some more
reading and watched a couple of shows on Netflix, oh how I’ve missed a fast unlimited
WiFi connection to the internet. We met up mid-way through the afternoon for a
swim in the rather cold outdoor pool, sadly the sun wasn’t out as it was cloudy
so it was too cold for a long swim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had dinner in the hotel restaurant which has a
buffet/carvery arrangement. It was OK
but not brilliant. I think we’ve been
spoiled with the quality of the food we’ve had with our South African hosts in
Hartbeespoort and Stilfontain!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I managed to have a good long chat with my lovely
wife via FaceTime in the evening before going to sleep. Tomorrow will be a lot busier. We have rehearsals with the band in the
morning then the evening meeting starts at 6pm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-21021130218775283512017-11-23T16:41:00.000+00:002017-11-25T21:00:16.295+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 6 – 23rd November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chereen, our lovely host cooked us a wonderful breakfast
of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, avocado and a fine selection of fruit.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have no meetings today but it’s a good day
to visit a few folk.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our first call was
into a psychiatric hospital in east Pretoria to visit the daughter of a lady
who’d been in the meeting at Church in the City in Brits the other night.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’m not going to name any names or give many
details to preserve her privacy but suffice to say she’s had a hard time in the
last few years and has struggled with mental health issues to the point she
needed admitting recently.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I presume the
unfair stigma faced by those struggling with their mental health, as opposed to
physical health, is as bad in South Africa as it is in the UK, if not
worse.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey has a gift for sharing
the unending, unchanging, unrelenting love of Father God for people who find themselves
in such a situation and although he couldn’t get an acoustic guitar to go in
with we went into the hospital anyway.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was like “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest”, bare lino floors, painted
concrete walls and high ceilings, steel bars on the windows and old fashioned
jail-style steel bar doors.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The noise
was appalling, not wails or screams just the amplified and undamped echo of
every word spoken, every footstep and every rattle of every door or
window.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You could hardly make yourself
heard at the ward reception desk or in the dining area where we were to meet
the young lady and her mum.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a few
minutes struggling with the sound we were moved to a more private TV room that
was still noisy but at least we were the only ones in it.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was no TV either, thankfully.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey sang two of his songs to the young
lady, “Do you believe what I believe about you?” and “I am not disappointed in
you” after explaining that they were Father God’s words to her for her and
about her, specifically.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She seemed to
understand and she chatted with him for a while and he encouraged her that her
future was going to be different to her past.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her mum was very touched that we’d taken the time to go in to see her
and frankly it was a privilege to do so.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can’t imagine how hard it must be as a parent to see one of your
children suffering and struggling like that.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But she has hope for the future.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey gave the mum one of his CDs that has the songs on that he sang
to her daughter which she'll keep safe until she gets out, which hopefully won’t be too long.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We then moved on to the other side of Pretoria to
another hospital this time to see a lady called Tilana who was the person who invited
Godfrey to Brits when she found out he was coming to South Africa. She is Pastor Wally’s sister and has been
fighting cancer for eleven years. She
managed to come to the meeting on Tuesday night despite not feeling well and
needing treatment; she was determined she wasn’t going to miss it as she
loves Godfrey’s music so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have rarely seen anyone so fully alive and
glowing with enthusiasm let alone someone who is so very ill. She is a remarkable lady and we spent a wonderful
hour with her chatting about Godfrey’s music, her journey of faith and her
determination to be well. She and her
husband are planning on going on the Religious Detox cruise in the Mediterranean
next September plus she’s hoping to be released from this round of hospital
treatment on Sunday morning which means if she’s strong enough and well enough
she may be able to come on Sunday night to our final meeting of this trip here
in South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After we took our leave of her we headed to the
mall opposite to meet a friend of Godfrey’s called Gerben who was the Worship Director at a
huge church of 8,000 people in Pretoria when Godfrey came over about ten years
ago. He’s still in a leadership capacity
there and shared with us some of the monumental changes going on at their
church, all of which sounded exciting and very much in line with how I would love all churches to be; focused outwards, serving their community, deconstructing and
closing things that are no longer relevant, trying to remove the consumerist
culture from the meetings of the church.
It’s almost unheard of for a church of that size, with a large number of
full-time staff to attempt such a shift.
Even small churches find that stuff difficult. I hope they succeed. He is also a drummer and an extremely accomplished
musician in several fields. He was someone you could immediately warm to and I liked him immensely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By then it was about 3:30pm so it was time to head
back to Chereen’s house before we got too caught in the rush hour traffic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tonight Chereen and Gordon treated us to a
fantastic meal of Snoek, an amazingly tasty meaty fish, grilled on a barbeque
with roasted vegetables, and a salad. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It
was wonderful meal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey and Gordon
sat out on the terrace sharing a tot of each of their favourite whiskies while
Chereen and I talked inside.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She told me
some of her amazing life story, which as it’s her’s not mine I won’t be sharing
here, but it was FULL to the brim with the grace and goodness of God in what at
times must have been incredibly hard situations.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She is a remarkable woman and my only regret
is not getting to meet her husband as he was been working away all week and
gets home tomorrow after we’ve left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow we’re heading for Johannesburg itself and
this time we’re staying in a hotel near the airport instead of with members of
the church. We have a meeting on
Saturday night and two meetings on Sunday.
Apparently I’ll be playing an electric drum kit which I’m not looking
forward to. I don’t like them even if
they’re expensive and fancy ones. Partly
that’s because they lack the sensitivity an acoustic kit has and partly it’s
just it pushes me out of my comfort zone!
I shall get over myself and do my best on it and I’m sure it’ll be
dandy! What’s the worst that could
happen? Tune in to Saturday nights blog
to find out!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-32257610301812727942017-11-22T15:15:00.001+00:002017-11-25T21:00:23.947+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 5 – 22nd November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This morning we were up at seven to get to the
meeting for about half past eight.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’d
brought a bag of low-sugar cereal with me and opening it this morning to have
for breakfast as Wally had said he’s sort a brunch out after the meeting.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We took a different route into Brits which
seemed faster than the route via the dam but was still about half an hour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was only a very small crowd this morning
fifteen or so at the most however we had a good time doing some different songs
from the night before and then Godfrey spoke a bit, expanding on some of the
things we’d spoken about the night before and then he threw it open for some
Q&A. Wally, the pastor, asked some
good questions and I got an opportunity to share some of the things I’ve
learned along the way in this exploration of the finished work, inclusion and
our identity in Christ. It really seemed
to help some people having a time to conversation and questions. Churches are often scared to death of
questions but I love them. How can we
learn without examining what we believe and questioning it? We finished off with ‘Do you believe’ and ‘I
am not disappointed’ as those had
particularly touched Wally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was asked by a lovely lady called Gladys about
forgiveness and how she could forgive someone who had stolen money from
her. I explained as best as I could that
forgiving them was not the same as saying what they did was OK but it was about
your own peace of mind and ensuring you don’t end up reliving the hurt and pain
of the theft again and again until you end up embittered and damaged. That forgiving someone was often more about
you than about the person who had wronged you.
I explained it was also a choice, not a feeling and even if she didn’t
feel like it she could chose to say ‘I forgive’ and that it would get easier. Leave the person who had done the theft to
the authorities and to God to sort out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had a delicious brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon,
chips and a south African sausage called Droe wors I think. Godfrey had a fish and vegetables dish. Wally questioned us quite intently about our
beliefs but not in a critical way but in the way of a man wrestling with a
fresh revelation and trying to square it with things he’s believed or been
taught that seem not to line up. He was
especially concerned with hell and judgement but he knew that the focus was to
be Jesus and let such things sort themselves out in the their own good
time. Sometimes the good news does look
too good!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We then headed for the cable car to go up to the
top of the nearby mountain. Our host
Chereen manages the gift shop there so she took us along with Wally and his
wife Rosie. The ride up was super smooth
and quick and the weather was glorious.
We had an ice cream at the top then took the cable car back down to
visit a beautiful supermarket full of the most amazing produce. There were fruits and vegetables the like of
which I’ve never seen plus a surprising number of things exactly the same as at
home!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We bid our goodbyes to Wally and Elisabeth and Chereen
took us back to her house where a thunderstorm started about half past two with
very impressive flashes of fork lightning and heavy rain in the distance
heading towards us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow there’s the possibility that we’ll go to
Pretoria to visit the sister of a lady in the church who is in a secure
psychiatric unit so Godfrey can sing some of his songs there and we’ll also
visit the lady who invited us in to the church in Brits. She’s Wally’s sister and she’s very sick with
cancer. She was at the meeting last
night but had taken a turn for the worse.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the evening we had a lovely meal of chicken and smoked trout that Chereen's dad Gordon had caught on one of his fishing trips.</span></div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-18024974742838772252017-11-22T15:14:00.003+00:002017-11-25T21:00:30.836+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 4 – 21st November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The three hour drive was actually only just two
and half hours.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lovely guy called Dion
drove us in Annalise’s SpirtWord minivan.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She was unable to come after all due to some speaking commitments.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was a really good driver and I felt very
safe in his hands.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The scenery in
Stilfontain is very flat with scrub and only a few trees and a lot of dust but
as we got closer to Brits we passed through rich green farm farmland and the
hills in the distance got closer and closer.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dion said we were heading up into the hills as Brits is surrounded by
hills.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At one point as we passed a farm
a whirling funnel air containing grass and plant debris came out of the field
and intersected with the car clattering against the windows.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a dust devil I guess. It wasn’t big
enough or powerful enough to be a tornado by any means but it was probably a
similar phenomenon, but don’t quote me I’m no meteorologist!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We arrived in Hartbeesport Dam, at the most secure
looking gated community I’ve ever seen, around lunch time. The walls are high and are topped with
outward leaning electric fence wires.
The entrance has car-park style barriers for the day time with a guard
hut between the exit and entrance lanes manned by armed guards in
pseudo-military uniforms. At night
there’s a solid metal gate that rolls out of the wall to block the way. We followed the path round to a house owned
by a lady called Chereen who was out at work but her father, Gordon, was there
to greet us. There was a spare room in
the house and a separate basement room with its own entrance at the side. Godfrey took the one inside and went down
below. The room was quite cool being
partially underground and had a large firm double bed in the centre and a small
shower stall, toilet and sink area at the entrance behind a sliding door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon took us to the clubhouse on the estate,
which is home to a nine-hole golf course, with a terrific view looking over the
reservoir and parts of the golf course. The greens were all dry and dead as someone
had made a mistake fertilizing it earlier in the year and killed the grass on
the greens so they all had to be dug up and re-turfed at the cost of many
thousands of Rand. I had chicken
schnitzel with chips and Godfrey ordered a chicken and prawn curry without the
chicken accompanied by rice.
Unfortunately the chef messed up Godfrey’s meal and put chicken in it
too, so when the waiter pointed this out it had to be re-cooked so Godfrey got
his meal a good few minutes after us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lady called Stella picked us up around four pm
and we headed to the Church in the City via the dam and a tunnel under one of
the hills. It was about a half hour
drive into Brits itself. The church
meets in a shopping mall. It’s mostly empty
of shops as a smart new mall opened up a little further away and the shops
moved there. The church has a café and
coffee shop out front and a meeting room at the back which I guess could seat
two hundred or so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was a really nice acoustic six-piece drum
kit to use and it wasn’t behind the usually ubiquitous Perspex screen! The PA guys were really helpful getting
monitors for us and sorting out the cabling.
The room was almost full by the time the meeting started at seven
o’clock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The local worship team wanted to do three songs at
the beginning, so Godfrey decided to speak first before doing any of his songs
as their style was completely different and the two sounds wouldn’t really
complement each other at all. He did a
great job of bringing his usual message and the people including the pastor,
Wally Scholtz, loved it. People were
very moved by his testimony and story of playing in secure mental health units
back home in the UK. We then did our
songs and the crowd seemed to love them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterwards we had a meal in the café of roasted
veg, creamed spinach and a most delicious fish called Snoek. The flesh was firm and meaty and was almost
the texture of chicken but tasted like fish. It had clearly had spices cooked
into it and it was the best fish dish I’ve ever had, by miles. I had a very interesting conversation with
the guy opposite me and was able to encourage him with the good news of his
inclusion and perfect standing with God.
He asked loads of questions, most of which I hope I answered reasonably
well. I also had a good conversation
with a young lad who plays keyboards and had been given a prophetic word about
writing and releasing an album of worship songs and he said he didn’t know how
to start. I explained that it was good
to hold such words lightly and not to struggle to fulfil it himself, but to
just work on his skills as a musician and song-writer and shared with him the
excellent advice I’ve heard Godfrey give about owning the songs you write. To never say ‘the Lord gave me this song’ as
then you put yourself in an unteachable place, how can you receive constructive
criticism if the song is God’s, but to say you wrote this and acknowledge that
God inspired you, prompted you etc but you wrote it. That way you can develop as a songwriter. He seemed happy with this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were back at the house around eleven o’clock
and I crashed out straight to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-90805941291136789662017-11-21T07:55:00.002+00:002017-11-25T21:00:37.902+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 3 – 20th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A day off today before a three hour drive to the
town of Brit tomorrow and some meetings there.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was quite strange waking up alone in someone else’s house as Terence,
Vicky and their two kids Lucien and Caitlin had all got up early and left the
house before about 7:30 to get to work or school.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vicky had shown me where all the breakfast
things were so I enjoyed a leisurely start to the day which was beautiful and
sunny, again, but quite windy.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You could
clearly hear things rattling and trees moving outside and the odd strange creak
or door opening and shutting as the air pressure in the house fluctuated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I spent the morning finishing ‘Jesus and the
undoing of Adam’ and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who wanted to know
more about the incredible work of the trinity to achieve the eternal purpose of
uniting man and God in loving relationship.
The majority of the western church has been so wrong-headed about this
topic! The common ideas that Jesus was turning away or absorbing the punishment
of God that was intended for us and that God turned his face away from Jesus at
the cross and did forsake him are exposed as the product of a thorough
misunderstanding about the nature of the trinity and God’s plan for
humanity. It’s beautifully written,
scholarly, Biblical and easily understandable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey wasn’t feeling too well today. He wasn’t sure if it was something he’d eaten
or bug he’d picked up, but he felt quite sick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the afternoon after a hamburger lunch provided
by Johan and Tarryn Godrey and I went off with Terence and Vicky’s two kids to to
visit a lion breeder nearby with Johan’s mum Annalise. They raise lions there to sell to animal
parks and other places. They have a huge
property with massive fenced in areas, bigger than a zoo’s, for the adult lions
and some smaller enclosures for the new born cubs and the older ones. We were able to pick up and hold some four
week old lion cubs that were already the dimensions of a large family cat but
much bulkier and heavier. They seemed
quite content to be held and snuggled up to get comfy and opened their mouths
to chew on your fingers toothlessly.
Their mother was outside the enclosure the whole time behind a steel
door watching and she seemed content that we meant her cubs no harm but the
owner did advise us to keep well away from her even though she was behind a
door. We then went to see some other
types of wild cat the names of which escape me and then went into an enclosure
with a much larger young lion that was a few months old and was the size of a
medium sized dog. He was very strong and
quite mischievous. He constantly tried to bite my hand and claw at me, but
definitely in a playful rather than aggressive way. He didn’t put up with the handling for long
and soon got bored and jumped down. His
mother had come over to the fence of her enclosure to watch what we were doing
to her baby and clearly was less than happy and vocalised her feelings quite
plainly. While I was filming her on my
phone she moved and snapped suddenly, yards away behind a strong wire fence,
and it was scary enough for me to nearly drop my phone. Looking at the size of her paws, claws, teeth
and jaws it’s easy to believe just how quickly she could catch and kill you
should you be stupid enough to not have a fence between you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Godfrey was really feeling quite poorly by this
point so we headed back to the house so he could lie down and rest. The folks from the church were very kind and
extremely concerned and offered multiple medicines that may help and were happy
to head out to get anything else he might need.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I spent the rest of the afternoon reading,
chatting and napping then we all went to Annalise’s house for a meal prepared
by her two daughters-in-law and Vicky.
It was delicious, a beautiful salad, a lentil vegan curry and a chicken
dish with rice amongst other things. By
then Godfrey was, fortunately, feeling a lot better but he didn’t eat anything
other than a small amount of watermelon so hopefully whatever it was will be
out of his system completely by tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We returned to our hosts and I spent a happy
couple of hours chatting with Terence and Vicky about life, kids, parenthood
and any other topic that bubbled up.
While we certainly don’t agree on everything that isn’t a requirement to
like, respect and love someone. They are
a quality couple in every way that matters and it’s been a privilege and a
delight to stay with them and be a part of their family for a few days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-33573961980705063322017-11-19T19:18:00.002+00:002017-11-25T21:00:45.314+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 2 – 19th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So church meetings start rather earlier here than
I’m used to in the UK!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were up and
breakfasting around 7am as we needed to be in the church for 8am.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think there were a few more people in than
last night but it’s difficult to be sure as the house lights are down and there
are spotlights focused on the stage so seeing anything beyond the front row is
tricky.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The music went well again and we
did ‘Bless the Lord’ originally from Godfrey’s fourth album ‘A Call To Pray’ in
2001 which I’ve not played with Godfrey in ten years, at least.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He’s tweaked the words to sharpen up the
message in it and it’s a good song.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Johan’s brother Petrus preached this morning who
appears to be a gentle thoughtful man.
After his word we did a few more songs and then they announced a
surprise that in the evening there would be a ‘Gospel Party’ at 7pm for those
who wanted to attend. There was nothing
planned for tonight originally but I think Godfrey offered the option to Petrus during the meeting and he went with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Johan and Tarryn took us out for lunch at a
restaurant a short drive away and I had a steak with biltong shavings on it and
avocado dip with a side-salad. It was
very good. How did I not like avocado
until recently? It’s amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we go back I managed to get quite a bit more
of Baxter’s book read sitting out in the glorious sunshine and I started the
latest Jack Reacher novel too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s a young puppy that’s taken a shine to me
and every time he sees me he runs up and want to lick my hands and for me to stroke
him and play with him. I hope Spike
won’t be cross with me for cheating on him with another dog!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The afternoon had a nice long nap in it which was
also very welcome as the worship sessions are reasonably long compared to what
we’d do in the UK so the drumming takes it out of me.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The evening meeting was due to start at 7pm so the house band did a few minutes at the beginning as people were arriving. They are a completely different style to Godfrey but they make a great sound together and Johan's brother Petrus is a very good drummer. The crowd for the evening was enthusiastic and we had a brilliant time. </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I met a couple called Eric and Bea after the meeting and we talked about the gospel and how realising our inclusion, our sonship, our complete acceptance and how loved we really are changes everything about how we live and think about our relationship with God. They were obviously impacted by the message in Godfrey's songs and by his speaking. You could see the joy shining out of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">My hosts Vicky and Terence and I went back with Godfrey to his hosts Johan and Tarryn's house for a supper of sandwiches, fruit and wine. They are easy and good company and we spent the evening laughing and telling tales about some of the crazy and funny things we've all got up to.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As they live next door to each other it was no problem to get off to my bed at the end of the evening!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow we have a day of before heading to a town called Brit for some more meetings.</span></div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-31117289740640304332017-11-19T19:17:00.004+00:002017-11-25T21:00:52.557+00:00South Africa 2017 - Day 1 – 18th November<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I met up with Godfrey yesterday near the M1 to
travel down to Heathrow.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got there
really easily with very little in the way of delays or holdups and arrived
almost 5 hours before the flight was due to depart.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A much easier journey than my poor wife Mags
had home.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The two hours it took to drop
drop me off turned into almost four hour for her return trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I met a dog handler while having coffee in T5 who
was training explosives sniffer dogs.
Every time they successfully found his bag with plastic explosives in
the dog got a play with a tennis ball and some praise. I hope he had fake plastic explosives in the
bag, not the real deal! We had a good
chat about dogs and his job and I was surprised how much he was allowed to tell
me about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lift in T5 had the poshest announcer’s voice
I’ve ever heard, so posh I muttered in my best RP accent “Four years at RADA
and I’m doing the voice of an airport lift” which got a chuckle from some of
the packed passengers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A pint of Guinness was an excellent accompaniment
to a full English breakfast for tea then we boarded the plane. Here we come to a fine candidate for one of
Godfrey’s ‘top tips’. When Mags and I
travel, with or without the kids, we always just wait until the plane is nearly
full before boarding so we don’t have to stand in the lengthy queue to
board. Godfrey doesn’t. As soon as they called the first class he was
up and in that much shorter queue. I
followed rather reluctantly and he said he almost always just gets straight on
and low and behold we didn’t get bounced or told to come back later but were
waved straight on! Sadly we didn’t get
to sit in first or even business class, we had to put up with the very back
row, chosen in the hope that people don’t like the back row so if the flight wasn’t
too full we might be able to lie down across multiple seats and get some
kip. The flight was rammed. Ever seat was taken and we ended up with a
guy sitting between us in our little block of three. Godfrey wanted the aisle so he could get out
easier and I like the window so I can see, plus who wants to be in the
middle? The guy seemed a bit put out but
that’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Started reading C. Baxter Kruger’s slim little
book “Jesus and the undoing of Adam” as I’ve been meaning to read it for
months. I’ve managed to get half way
through and it is excellent. It not a
book to just speed read through. I like
the cut of his jib as they say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I managed to watch about three quarters of Wonder
Woman early in the morning when I’d finally given up on sleeping before we
landed. It truly is a superb film. It’s
certainly the most emotionally moving of the super-hero films of late.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Immigration and baggage claim in Johannesburg was
a breeze if a little slow, but nowhere near as slow as Newark or Atlanta in the
USA can be. Then we were met by Johan and Terence from the church in
Stilfontaine. It was a two hour or so
drive to their place from the airport but when we arrived it was
beautiful. The wooden houses are in a
little fenced-off compound near the church grounds, surrounded by stunning
countryside and we were made very welcome.
Godfrey is with Johan and Tarryn’s family and I’m with Terence and
Vicky’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a sound-check and quick rehearsal about 4pm
then the meeting started about 6pm.
Godfrey’s got the whole evening other than a short Bible-school
graduation ceremony at the beginning and as they’re all really excited about
him being here it really kicked off into a really fun party. The band was great with a bass player,
Terence on electric guitar and Johan on keyboards and harmonica. Godfrey’s preach went down a storm too. The message of ‘you’re a wonderful son’ -
which if you’ve heard him speak anytime in the last few years you’ll have heard
it. It’s a good message.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The meeting was live streamed at Spirit Word
Ministries Facebook page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The dancing during some of the songs was superb,
clearly some of the younger folks have some dances they’ve developed and all do
in unison, it was wonderful to see them doing it. Such exuberance and joy being expressed is
great to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the meeting we had a bite to eat and then
crashed into blissful and deep sleep until the morning.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-91426371753789298062016-05-02T19:05:00.000+01:002016-05-02T20:31:48.455+01:00Hell, Satan and Jesus<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t believe in Hell<sup>1</sup>
and I don’t believe in Satan<sup>2</sup> but I do believe in Jesus</span></b><sup><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5</span></sup><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I do believe
in Hell</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">3</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">, I do
believe in Satan</span></b><b><sup><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">4</span></sup></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> and I do
believe in Jesus</span></b><sup><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">5</span></sup><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-----------------------------------</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Footnotes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;">If by Hell you mean a post-mortem place of eternal separation from God, possibly involving torture.<br /></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;">If by Satan you mean a malign supernatural entity implacably opposed to God and humans; possibly a fallen angel who commands lesser supernatural entities known as demons.</span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;">If by Hell you mean the ghastly miserable lives some people endure in the here-and-now life; possibly because of their own poor decision making but more often because of terrible life circumstances or the wicked behaviour of others around them.</span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">If by Satan you mean the ‘accusing voice’ that runs people down, belittles them, undermines them and tricks them; possibly an internal voice but sometimes also the voices of parents, teachers, bosses, family members, friends and strangers (that may later be remembered and internalised) but when believed in sabotages efforts to escape their own Hell</span><sup><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.3333px;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">If by Jesus you mean the incarnation of the triune God as a human being who entered this world in humility and obscurity not in splendour and privilege whose mission it was to reveal God the Father’s unending, undying, unstoppable, unquenchable love for his creation. To reveal that God was never our enemy and that we had almost completely misunderstood who He is and who we are to Him. To prove that life lived to the full, in union with the Father, was possible through Him and to ensure that once-and-for-all everything that stood in opposition to that union was put to death when he voluntarily laid down his own life as, and for, the whole of humanity. He also gave us His perfect life when he was raised from the dead and poured out his Spirit on all. He enters people’s Hell</span><sup><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> and walks through it with them until together they find the way out. He defeats Satan</span><sup><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">4</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> by exposing the ‘accusing voice’ as a liar and replaces it with the words of truth that affirm, encourage, strengthen and uplift.</span></span></li>
</ol>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-42921811780588349872013-11-10T09:10:00.002+00:002013-11-10T09:10:18.089+00:00Communion<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love communion, bread
& wine, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, whatever you want to call it I
mean the symbolic meal taken in remembrance of Jesus as described in Mark
14:22-25, Matthew 26:26-29 and Luke 22:13-20.
It wasn’t a big deal for me until a couple of years ago and I don’t
suppose I thought much about it when we did it at our church, nor did I
particularly miss it when we hadn’t done it for a while. I have always baulked a bit at anything that
seemed liturgical or religious especially if it happened on special days and
was pre-planned, it didn’t feel authentic to me and I couldn’t see the
connection to my life or even to Jesus’.
Some people may say “that’s because you don’t understand the Jewish
Passover properly” which certainly was true once but I attended a church service
that thoroughly explained all the first-century Jewish elements of a Passover
meal and put the familiar Protestant communion into that context and while it
was very interesting, from a historical perspective, it still didn’t really
connect it to my life or my understanding of Jesus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few years ago I
really started to get to grips with the ‘finished work’ ideas and the focus of
my Christian life started turning towards what Jesus <i>has</i> already accomplished for me, and as me, rather than on a
frustrated longing for some future blessing or work in my life. Also around that time Mags and I attended a
conference where on the last day a huge set of tables was set out in the shape
of a cross, decorated with shiny cloths, small lights and candles and then
absolutely covered with the most spectacular bread, wine, sweets, chocolate,
fruit, cheese and all manner of delicious food, then the attendees were invited
to come and feast at the cross. It was a
free for all, a delightful messy slightly chaotic jumble of people helping
themselves, sharing with friends, bumping into strangers, laughing, meditating,
thinking, hugging and generally enjoying themselves. I absolutely loved it and the experience
stayed with me for days, if not weeks.
It shifted something in my thinking about communion, I suddenly loved
that simple symbol. I doubt I’d have had
the same reaction if I hadn’t started down the ‘finished works’ route – I would
probably have been offended by the lavishness and been justifying my offence by
reference to the poor or the homeless or third-world famine vs. western
excess! The extravagance of the
decoration and the wide range and quality of the food spoke so vividly of the
extravagance of the love Jesus and the Father poured out; it brought this
symbol to life!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the years since
I’ve increasingly loved communion, when it’s given the time and space to be
savoured; I can’t stand to see it rushed or tacked on as an afterthought! I don’t care if it’s done using artisan bread
and £20 red wine or a cheap supermarket loaf and some Ribena, the actual
ingredients are now irrelevant so long as we get to linger, focus and savour it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One other thing that
has become increasingly important to me is the absence of a ‘priest’
administering it. For many in
non-liturgical or hierarchical church systems it seems this is one sacred cow
we are unwilling to shoot, those in Roman Catholicism or the Anglican Church don’t
even get this choice (and if they’re happy with that arrangement that’s fine). The fabulous feast on the cross worked as a
symbol in part because it was <i>free</i>
from control, there was no-one dishing out an allotted portion! You could help yourself, take your time,
share with friends, with strangers, mingle happily with others or stand quietly
on your own and return time and again.
One of the most beautiful truths of the New Covenant is that we no
longer need any mediator but Jesus, his life is our life. Symbols are important and they help shape our
thinking and our understanding so if one of our key symbolic acts still
includes a human mediator between us and Jesus’ body and blood we’re
reinforcing a separation that is not true.
There may be a genuine desire on the part of those handing out the
wafers or bread, and holding on to the cup to give out the sips of wine, to
serve the meeting but really it’s not necessary! Embrace the chaos, the wild, the free and the
beauty of the direct one-to-one with Jesus that communion can represent. When we are all ministering to each other we
really are the body that has one head, Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So next time you’re
planning to include communion in your church, event, house-group why not think
outside the usual and really feast on all that the cross has won for you, for
me for the whole of humanity! It’s a
banquet of blessing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-41017317325986813872013-09-25T22:36:00.001+01:002013-09-25T23:16:04.427+01:00The feminist within....<div style="text-align: justify;">
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I can’t pinpoint the
moment I became aware that the world was not working the way I thought it
should. My starting point was to think that boys and girls were of the same
value and should be treated the same as we are both human and whilst we might
be physically different that didn’t mean one was better than the other. Growing
up there were rows with my brothers over which was better, to be a girl or a
boy, we could have babies, they could grow a moustache…..but as I grew up I
realised this row had been won by the boys long before I was born. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned that women had to fight for
equality; they had to fight to become more than property, then the fight for the vote, fight
for equal pay, fight to be educated, fight for the right to have a career and there is an
on-gong fight to be treated fairly. Women have had to fight for things that men
seemed to have given to them just because they are male. So I’ve been pondering
this unfairness for a long time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Being born in the late
60’s in the Western world means I have had much more freedom than previous
generations; I can wear what I like, stay in school for as long as I wanted,
have a career, go to university, marry when and who I wanted, control when I
have a baby, any job is an option and yet it is clear there are still clear
inequalities between men and women, the struggle continues for equal pay, equal
opportunities to the top jobs and the debate hits the headlines when the church
starts to ‘explain’ the place of women. In the West it seems that the church
is the place where women are discriminated against the most, a shocking
thought when the church is supposed to be the bride not the groom!!</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
So why have women not
been treated as equal to men? I think part of that answer lies in how we have
viewed God as totally male and how we have interpreted certain scriptures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Growing up I was taken
to the catholic church, I did my first confession and my holy communion and
remember being very excited to wear the pretty white dress and told something
about being old enough now to take communion, old enough to line up with
everyone else. I couldn’t be an altar boy like my brothers, so no other participation
for me till I was older and then if I wanted to work in the church it would be
as a nun or a housekeeper for the priest….not a priest though. By the time I
was a teenager I was completely at a loss how a male priest could have anything
relevant to say to me as a girl, he wasn’t one and wasn’t going to marry one,
so how would he know anything about me or family life and why were priests all
men? Questions with unsatisfactory answers took me out of the Catholic Church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I entered the
charismatic movement at the age of 17 and it wasn’t long before I felt women
were not treated equally there either; women on the stage were introduced as
somebody’s wife rather than by name, I could volunteer to be a Sunday school
teacher or run the crèche or I could do youth work but I would not be a
‘teacher’ or a ‘leader’ as I was a woman and the bible said I couldn’t. It
appeared that outside the church structure women could be anything including Prime
Minister but inside our leadership was restricted and our voices were for
singing not teaching or debating theology. Being married to a leader seemed to
give some sort of position but no single women were permitted to lead
house-groups or preach, rarely getting near the microphone unless to pray for
somebody. Women are allowed to be intercessors, they can’t preach but they can
talk to God on our behalf…... When questions are asked about the inequality in church there is the pointing to scriptures and obviously Eve has a lot to answer for despite any
theology about curses being broken. Eve and therefore women are not to be
trusted. We cannot interpret scripture, lead men, teach and are easily
deceived </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I now believe in equality, not because I’m rebellious or deceived but because I’ve read the Bible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read theologians explain how the scriptures
that are used to teach that women can’t be in leadership, or teach men or how they
ought to wear their hair, or how salvation comes through childbirth, are
contextual and that Paul is not a misogynist. I’ve read how Jesus treated women
and how women were in all levels of leadership in the early church and I have concluded
that God created us equal and so we should treat each other as equals. I think the
problem lies with having a warped view of God and ourselves and how we interpret
scripture, compounded by not recognising that we are reading it through a
patriarchal lens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
When we have a male
only God and believe we are created in ‘his’ image we then believe male is
supreme and women are inferior and we will interpret the scriptures and act
accordingly. Our behaviour shows exactly what we believe. When we believe Eve
was made as a secondary thought or as a servant to Adam we will treat women
according to that belief. When we believe Eve was the archetype of all women and
easily deceived, pretty but dim, we assume all women are simple minded and
easily deceived and if beautiful then unlikely to be intelligent. Whether we
believe in Eve or not she is in our thinking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Could it be true that
women are treated more equal outside the church construct because people have
stopped believing in Adam and Eve and have therefore stopped believing women
are inherently gullible or made to serve men? Could it be true that once the
church stopped having such an influence on society it allowed space for women
to flourish? Although the whisper is still there that a beautiful woman cannot
be intelligent and that women in positions of power or influence are somehow
less feminine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
What if we accept that
God is more than just male? He describes himself as ‘I am’ and neither male nor
female and we can accept that we have been made in ‘his’ likeness both male and
female and so God is not more of one than the other. What if when God was
walking in the garden with Adam it wasn’t an old man with a white beard, what
if it wasn’t a man at all? Perhaps acknowledging the male images we conjure in
our head, when we think of God, shows us how it is entrenched in our thinking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Jesus refers to God as
Father in his prayers which adds to the image of an older man, could Jesus have
said Our Mother who art in heaven? Would that have been outrageous even if it
was accurate and if he had how would the church have developed?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
What if the reason we
call nature ‘Mother Nature’ is because Holy Spirit is feminine and she was
the one who did the creating???? Scary thought there…..</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
The problem is we just
don’t have the mental framework to know how to verbalise or imagine a God who
is not male. So the church is totally committed to its patriarchal system. We
have created God in a male image rather than the God who is the ‘I am’ and
because we don’t have the understanding, we return to what is familiar when
faced with the questions. We put the question off as one that cannot be fathomed;
we use humour to cover how uncomfortable we are with the idea of a feminine
God. We call women who raise these questions feminists and hope they will be
quiet and stop rocking the boat. It is interesting to note when the subject
comes up men often want to know if they have to get in touch with their
feminine side and whilst, mostly unaware, will try and shut down the
conversation with humour or scripture. Fear of destabilising the patriarchal
system is held by men and women and yet until it is removed and we understand
what it is to have a God who is not a man, women will continue to struggle and
fight for equality. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I think our starting
point is knowing that God is the ‘I am’ and is not just male, to spend some
time asking God to show us how to be liberated women made in the image of God.
I know the way forward is not to imitate men, it is not to oppress men instead,
it is not for men to get in touch with their feminine side, it is not something
that we can continue to ignore, it is not ok that women are not treated equally
in every sphere of life. The feeling that women should be treated equally in
the church is not rebellion or deception, it is time for women to be who they
are created to be without let or hindrance from any patriarchal system. I'm pretty happy with what a generation of liberated women isn't going to look like but once that is out of the way we may see something new emerge....</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Does it matter? I think
so, I think the earth is calling out for women as she is in trouble, running
out of resources and gripped with fear, she needs the women to have a voice.
The boys have had a good run it’s time to step aside, not down, just aside and
let’s work together as liberated children of God to love the earth back to good
health.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-87607591037007248062013-08-21T19:22:00.003+01:002013-08-21T19:22:55.069+01:00Love and eternity<div style="text-align: justify;">
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‘He has also set eternity in the human heart’ Ecc
3:11</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
To see a world in a grain of sand</div>
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And a heaven in a wild flower,</div>
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Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,</div>
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And eternity in an hour.</div>
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William Blake</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can see a connection between these two
statements, there is something of substance here that is to be discovered. Eternity
that is within us being explored, contemplated, believed and then to discover
what is in creation and be able to connect the two. Is that possible? Is it
possible to contemplate what/who we have within us, so we can see the world the
same as the creator sees it, and in seeing can we touch it with the eternal? Is
it possible to release the eternity that is within our spirit into our
consciousness so we can experience the eternal here and now?</div>
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Love as an experience can be overwhelming, those
moments when you feel your heart is expanding and it is almost as if it might
explode if you don’t draw back from the intensity. We call it awe inspiring and
we could say it is the breath of God on our deposit of eternity. </div>
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Love is the most powerful force and when we allow
love to engage with our eternity there may well be an explosion. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Have a ponder and in the meantime, love.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-45215660836402867122013-08-12T12:20:00.001+01:002013-08-12T12:24:43.407+01:00Male and female, the image of God.<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>If humanity could grasp that God is
as much feminine as masculine perhaps we would look to God for our identity rather than to a lesser version of freedom and equality. </div>
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The patriarchal system <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fears women’s equality as it believes the inevitable
change will be for the worse, therefore it refuses to allow women’s freedom or
equality and will keep women from their freedom for as long as possible to
avoid any change. It believes there will be a loss of power and control, which
is true, but it will not be so women will then gain the power and control over
men. There is a fear that maleness will be diminished if women are permitted equality, when in fact men will be released into their true position when women are.....There will be change and it will be so the fullness of what God’s children
actually look like, can be revealed on the earth, perhaps that is what it is
longing for…..</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-44711093071011604962013-08-07T11:07:00.001+01:002013-08-07T11:07:18.893+01:00I don't think that means what you think it means....<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
“You keep using that word, I don’t think it means
what you think it means” Inigo Montoya The Princess Bride</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5vzB0fp9HM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5vzB0fp9HM</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
‘The further away you travel from religion (and
the I-have-all-the-answers-mind-set you inherit with it) the more freedom you
find in asking questions about your faith. You no longer feel obligated to
pledge undivided allegiance to your doctrines. You become pleased to put them
on trial, to examine then, and to discard them if they are found to be without
substance.’ Mick Mooney</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Literalism is invariably the lowest and least
level of meaning.’ Richard Rohr.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
There are times when I hear or read something and think
to myself; ‘I don’t think that’s what that means’. I can’t always put my finger
on why, so I ponder it for a bit, read about it and then sometimes write about
it, without finding any answers sometimes just asking the questions is enough….
I think there are all sorts of scriptures that have been taken out of context
and whole doctrines and teaching programmes built up around them, which has the
effect of ending up with something very different to what God intended. The
scriptures about slavery are a classic example where the words were taken at
face value and used to endorse the belief that slavery is ok. Not to mention
those pesky scriptures about women….</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Recently I heard something, that I’ve heard lots
of times before, but this time the phrase above seemed to say it all; ‘I don’t
think that means what you think it means’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I need to
pray for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit because if I don’t the demon
that just left is going to wander around for a bit and then come back into you,
it will see that there’s nobody home and go and get seven of its friends and
they will all move in to you and you’ll be worse off than you were when you
arrived for your deliverance ministry. Ok so you’ll probably have to become a
Christian too or the Holy Spirit won’t be moving in so if you could just say
this prayer and we’ll get started….’</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Now it’s all biblical. Jesus said if one goes out,
seven more move in….it’s all set out in Matthew 12:43 and Luke 11:24.
Paraphrased: the spirit is cast out of a man, it wanders around in arid places
and then deciding to go home, finds the place clean and tidy and goes off and
gets seven more spirits to move and the man is in a worse condition than he was
before. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
So why don’t I like it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
My starting point would be that Jesus isn’t
setting out a teaching programme on deliverance to his disciples and on that
basis we need to be very careful if we decide to make it one. Jesus told
parables and used one thing to point to another. In these scriptures he isn’t
delivering a person of a demon, the context is he’s just been accused of
delivering demons by demons and is setting out for them what kind of a
generation they are. He could be saying, ‘if you get rid of one thing that is
bad for you and don’t replace it with anything else you’ll find you miss the
bad thing and go for it seven times more than you did before’. He could be
saying ‘just one prayer of repentance isn’t enough, you need to then live a
life of belief or you’ll be worse off than had you not repented in the first
place.’ In relation to the crowd he’s talking to, they’d gone down to repent
with John and not long after were calling for Jesus to be crucified…..the point
I’m trying to make is, he wasn’t doing a teaching session on deliverance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
My other thought is, if he was giving specific
teaching into how to deal with people who need deliverance, there is no mention
of praying for the man to be filled with the Holy Spirit to stop the demons
coming back. In this scripture the man is just left worse off…</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Also, there are instances of people being
delivered of demons in the gospel accounts without any reference to them being
prayed for to be filled with the Spirit straight away, something of a problem
for all those who were delivered if they were then worse off after Jesus prayed
for them. We get into a Monty Python sketch at that point - alms for an
ex-leper! </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
But what makes me think we really need to think
this through is the impact on people who come to us for help and the message we
are giving them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
If we tell them they are possessed, need
deliverance and whilst we can get rid of the demon that is afflicting them, we
can’t keep it out unless they sign up to Christianity because they can’t be
filled with the Holy Spirit unless they are saved and they need to be filled
with the Holy Spirit or seven more demons will come back with the first and
then they’ll be worse off, we better be darn sure that is what Jesus said to do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I’m concerned about the person with mental health
issues, suffers with depression, epilepsy, anxiety, bi-polar, schizophrenia,
addiction and any array of difficulties that is told by us that they are
possessed. How will they react if they have a relapse? Will they believe the
demons are back? What will they think of the power of the Holy Spirit? What
will they think about their own salvation? It’s a bit lame to think they won’t
have a relapse unless they do something to invite the demons back in, then
we’re in the theology of Christians getting possessed and the demonic being
stronger than the Holy Spirit…..it’s not really good enough to say they won’t
have a relapse if they’ve been delivered properly and it’s much more likely
they have a relapse because they didn’t have a demon in the first place and
they have health issues that need medical intervention and a loving community
to care for them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
What then? Should we not cast out demons when it
is part of the great commission? I don’t really know how ‘deliverance’ fits
into the modern world and unless I meet someone whose head is spinning I’ve no
intention of starting at ‘they’re possessed and need deliverance’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Here’s as far as I’ve got with my thinking– I
don’t think that scripture means what we’ve taught it means. We need to be
careful what we are enacting and be sure it is based on what the bible says in
its entirety rather than from a couple of scriptures. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
We should see the person in front of us and realise
the majority of people are struggling with their identity, lost in who they are
and who God is, unaware that they are made in the image of God, lied to about their
identity and lied to about God. Our ministry is to inform them of the good news
that they have been reconciled to God, the enemy is defeated and they are held
in the loving embrace of the Trinity. Love them and be careful with their mind.
People are so precious and we can get so caught up in healing and deliverance
we forget there is a person in front of us who first and foremost needs to know
they are loved.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-25401724824350399712013-07-31T10:09:00.001+01:002013-07-31T10:09:30.518+01:00Dandelion<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The dandelion seed ball, nature’s inspired reminder
to take the updraft and fly. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
It unfolds full of potential and even if
considered a weed it is not deterred. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
No name calling can change its true identity. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
It can be pulled up and discarded by gardeners who
hope it will not contaminate the cultivated flower bed but it laughs and
explodes. </div>
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The wild refusing to be tamed. </div>
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Picked by children with excitement of counting the
time, blowing seeds into their future.</div>
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Faith as small as a mustard seed can move
mountains He said, what about a seed with a sail, created to catch the wind and
fly.</div>
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So many of them from one previous seed, the
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Hidden from sight, the spark of eternity, hidden
yet known.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Hope, there is always a way for life to burst
forth in glorious sunshine as the petals declare.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-2117545854730154592013-07-16T13:07:00.000+01:002013-07-16T13:07:36.780+01:00What is 'fair'<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Is it possible to have one set of principles that
sets out what is ‘fair’ in a society which is full of individuals with
different beliefs in what the word means?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
A little pre-amble on the words we use….</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Fairness seems an easier word to use than
’justice’. People will declare they have been treated fairly or unfairly and it
is not really something that can be upgraded to a justice issue. There’s also a
danger of saying an issue, which is really a personal preference, is a ‘justice
issue’. It can diminish something that really is a justice issue, such as false
imprisonment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The use of the word
‘justice’ means it is more important, more life changing and likely to rally
folk to the cause. It is a word to be used only in certain contexts and avoided
in others, particularly if you want to down grade an issue that really is a
justice one and convince people it is just about fairness. It is as if the
heads will turn if someone is being treated unjustly but if it’s only unfair
they can sort it out for themselves. It may be that justice is something where
mutual agreement is more likely as it is easier to define, and therefore
simpler for folk to rally together to make a difference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Individuals want to be treated fairly but it is
more complex, it is also about how other people are treated that needs to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seen</i> as fair to the rest of us. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
The word ‘fairness’ has come up recently in the
context of changes to the Welfare State. It has been stated that changes are
needed because we want to live in a ‘fair’ society and this is highlighted
specifically where people who don’t work all day shouldn’t have a better
standard of living than those who do work all day. It is deemed unfair and needs
to be ‘fixed’ back to what some people consider as ‘fair’. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
The deserving and undeserving poor used to be the
wording for those who required assistance by the state. So depending on whether
you were considered by the authorities to be deserving or undeserving you would
be sent to the workhouse, alms house or prison. We don’t use those phrases now,
we use fair and unfair. I think because we don’t want to use the word ‘poor’!
If we accept people are poor we might feel an obligation or even, dare I say, compassion
to help them, characteristics on which the welfare state was created….so we
avoid the word poor and certainly not justice…. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Today it goes something like this: - it is fair
for the state to look after the disabled, the elderly (in the past the alms
houses would look after them), or those out of work for short periods because
their employer ran into difficulties because of the economic climate(off to the
work house for them) and it is unfair <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">on
us</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hardworking tax payers</b> for
the state to look after anybody else and we consider them lazy or guilty of
taking the system for a ride (prison for them). In reality that covers everyone
else on state benefits - the long term unemployed because they live in a region
where employment opportunities are non-existent, or were made redundant and now
find it impossible to get a job due to their age, single parents, people with
mental health issues, people who are unemployable due to being failed by
parents, education and the system generally. So the argument/propaganda
shouts-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is unfair to the rest of ‘us’
for ‘them’ to sit about all day, doing nothing and having their rent paid and
an income that they can ‘comfortably’ live on. They have cars, iPhones and Sky
TV, they’re in the pub and have holidays, spare bedrooms and spare income. It
is their choice to live on benefits and they should get a job or move to
smaller properties. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
It is impossible to prove this is true for the vast
majority of people who are on benefits. The benefits people receive are set out
to be minimal, they are carefully calculated to give people a very low standard
of living, somewhere slightly above the bread line. The reality for most; it is
not their choice to be on benefits, there are no jobs available for them and
there are no smaller houses for them to move into. The reality is for the
majority of people on benefits life has been extremely difficult, traumatic or
opportunities were never available to them. Jobs have been lost, unexpected pregnancies
happen, sickness leads to long-term inability to return to the career path,
divorce….life happens and when people are in poverty it is highly unlikely it
is their choice to be there. What is unfair is for society to not look after
people who are poor, especially when the reason they are poor is because they
have been failed by that society in the first place! What is fair is to help
those who are worse off than us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
My thought is this, perhaps if we used language
such as; ‘poor’, ‘living in poverty’ and ‘oppression of the poor’ which is a
justice issue, we may find there is compassion enough for us to stop blaming
people for a broken system and find ways to actually help them.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-55712489151078309952013-07-16T12:58:00.003+01:002013-07-16T12:58:59.828+01:00JLY vs WWJD<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was kid back in the 1970s (yep I’m THAT
old) Christians would often wear a little yellow badge with a smiley face on it
and the words “Jesus Loves You”, it probably started with the Jesus People or
some other slightly ‘whacky’ bunch, probably in America, but pretty soon
everyone was wearing them, even your parents or the local pastor. These days teenagers and others old enough to
know better wear wrist-bands with W.W.J.D on them instead; they’re easier to
hide up your sleeve especially if you’re also wearing about five others wrist
bands showing your opposition to bullying, your support for breast cancer
awareness, A.I.D.S research or your enthusiasm for real ale! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case you’ve been off-planet for the last few
years I shall explain that W.W.J.D stands for ‘What would Jesus do?’ Superficially it seems like a good thought;
especially for a hormone ravaged Christian teenager who’s just noticed the allure
of alcohol, the opposite sex, recreational drug use or all of the above. However
once again I think we’re missing something.
We’re focussing on the wrong issue; we’re focusing (as ‘law’ always
does) on the sin or the behaviour. We’re
hoping this magic wristband will suddenly become a powerful talisman and start
glowing or get hot or tight on the wrist as danger approaches and the teenager
will suddenly remember their Youth Leader’s words from the previous Sunday as
he spoke on the perils of teenage pregnancy, drunkenness and memory impairment
due to excessive marijuana use. The
sin-management program will kick in and they’ll remain sweet and innocent and
good. Nothing wrong with that you may
say, and to some extent I agree with you, as a parent of two teenagers (and one
grown-up) I hope they don’t use drugs, get pregnant before the time is right or
end up drunk on someone’s floor/road/hospital bed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However sin-management isn’t the answer, knowing
what you SHOULDN’T do rarely stops anyone from doing something tempting,
attractive or naughty! Our behaviour
flows out of our identity and not out of a set of rules, rules are excellent
for showing what you have done wrong but not great at stopping you doing it in
the first place. An identity that is
affirmed as a beloved son or daughter, a precious unique identity that causes
delight and pleasure in the eye of the beholder is worth its weight in
diamond-encrusted gold. Knowing who you
are will prevent many bad choices as the bad choices are often about seeking
something we feel we lack; if we feel we need acceptance, friendship, ‘love’,
beauty etc. we can end up looking for these things in the social vices that
promise to provide them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The W.W.J.D concept is focussing again on what we
do, our actions, the external, our performance; have we prayed, have we read
our Bibles, have we fasted, have we won our school/town/nation for Jesus? They’re a guilt-trip in rubber! Our heavenly Father is far more concerned
with who we are, and who we are has been determined by Jesus’ death and
resurrection and not by us! We can rest
in the identity He gives us as a free gift; we are co-heirs with Christ of all the
blessing and promises of God, filled with living water bubbling up from within,
we are the righteousness of God in Christ, welcomed into the wonderful dance
the trinity has been enjoying since before the foundation of the world when God
already knew us and marvelled at the beauty of his own handiwork.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we come back to the little yellow badges
with ‘Jesus Loves You’ on them. Maybe
they’re a bit cheesy, maybe they’re a bit old-fashioned but maybe we should
bring them back and wear them instead of our wrist-bands, as then we’ll be wearing
something that tells each other a truth that affirms our identity over and over
again instead of something that asks a question that sin-management programs
can’t really answer.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.philipatyler.co.uk/misc/jly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.philipatyler.co.uk/misc/jly.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-35724840936168999422013-07-15T16:24:00.005+01:002013-07-15T16:28:34.073+01:00What's in a name<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
My name is Marguerite which means pearl. Pretty
nice thought and during my life I suppose I’ve been encouraged about being
precious and unique. I like to think the parable by Jesus of the pearl of great
price is talking about me and knowing that he paid the ultimate price for me. There’s
also something encouraging on those days where I just feel irritated that I
symbolically started off as a grain of sand placed inside an oyster and over a
period of time, through some irritation, I will turn into a pearl. Remembering teaching
about iron sharpening iron and quotes about what doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger…..we’re all a work in progress after all. We’re all on a journey of
becoming more like Jesus, we start off as a total mess and after lots of hard
and painful work by God via the Holy Spirit, with our submission and humility, we’ll
be changed into something more acceptable to God. A work going on underneath
the covering of the blood of Jesus, a sinner under a cloak of protection from
the wrath of God. The final completion of the job at Judgement, after a
shameful experience of my life being played on the big screen for everyone to
see, being held to account for where I failed in the improvement plan, why had
I given the Holy Spirit such a difficult job in turning me into Jesus????</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I don’t think like that anymore, thank God!</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I do believe I am unique, precious and of value. I
don’t believe I started off a mess or am still a mess or that over time the
Holy Spirit is working hard on turning me into Jesus under the covering of his
blood. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
As a starting point; if God wanted lots of mini
Jesus’ he would have made me a boy….My creator wants me, the Marguerite he had
in mind before I was even born. I don’t believe he wants to shape us all into
identical models of the perfect Christian, I think he wants us to know our true
identity as he created us, with our own personalities, our own unique selves
made in His image.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
When I used to think I was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘a mess’, I didn’t look far enough back. I
only thought about my life before I was 17, thinking the improvement plan began
once I believed God was interested in my life, from the time I heard God’s
commitment to care for me. I became aware as the years went by that he was
caring for me and providing for me long before I was 17 but I still did not really
understand how God viewed me back then. I needed to grasp something of God’s
original thought towards me and his eternal thoughts towards me, thoughts that
didn’t change as my behaviour became more rebellious. He has always wanted the
best for me and more importantly he has always, and will always, love me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I am still a work in progress though. My starting
point is not from mess to perfect, it is from perfect in his sight to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">knowing</b> I’m perfect in his sight. The
journey continues ….knowing the destination is not going to be a shameful
experience as all my mess has already been taken away by Jesus 2,000 years ago.
I just need to remember to push the reset button every so often and delete all
the information that would tell me a different story. To continue to walk with
the Spirit who reveals the truth that will renew my mind, removing the lies
that tell me I’m ‘less than’. To go back to the beginning to see my story the
way God sees my story, to believe what he believes about me. I am a pearl of
great price.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
A final thought, there is a daisy called
Marguerite and people have been known to pull daisy’s apart to check who loves
them….he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not. Today is a
good day to know he loves me, he loves me and there is no petal in the universe
with ‘he loves me not’ written on it.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-46151130481913435162013-04-15T17:24:00.002+01:002013-04-15T17:26:29.790+01:00Hyper Grace<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My thoughts regarding the warning from some big
boys about teaching that has been labelled as ‘hyper-grace’ and is therefore
leading people into a lifestyle of sin and license to sin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Perhaps using the words Hyper-grace/super-grace
isn’t so wise. We can’t hype up grace, it has already been hyped to the max by
Jesus, we can’t have anything other than Super Grace! The enormity of the Grace
of God is the point, the amazing, overwhelming nature of Grace, the unmerited
gift of God, the Great Redeemer rescuing a fallen humanity whilst they were
still sinners. Grace is Jesus and Grace is our message, we are the carriers of
the Good News of the Gospel, that man has been reconciled to God in Jesus. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If we teach about behaviour and how not to sin we
are teaching law not grace, it can be prettied up with words such as balance
and obedience but it is still teaching to focus on our behaviour rather than to
focus on Jesus. If we teach someone how big the Jesus event was, who they are
in Christ and how they are holy, pure and fully acceptable to God all the time,
then we will teach them freedom <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">from</b>
sin, not freedom to sin. Romans 6 is so clear – with so much grace and no law
does that mean we can just go on and sin? Paul’s response <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is emphatic – By no means! Why would you live
there any longer. (The Message) If we teach people that their old man is dead,
crucified with Christ, buried and gone means we don’t have to teach people how
to control a corpse. Nobody tells us to go and dig up a dead body and make sure
it is still dead or to keep killing something that is dead already. We could
just remind people how dead that old man is and how alive in Christ they are. Perhaps
the church is setting the standard for the culture around us more than we
thought and that is why the media, in particular films and popular TV series,
are currently so obsessed with zombies! Let’s not keep any zombies in the barn!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By warning people that grace is ‘not that big or
you can’t take grace that far’ it is trying to keep a division between those
‘outside’ and those ‘inside’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only see
an inclusive God, Jesus died for all, he died for the world, the world has been
reconciled to God. I only see a Grace that is big enough to fit everyone in. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just don’t think you can take Grace too far.
So does that make me nicer than God? I would let more ‘in’ but God in his
holiness and justice has to keep a few out? Nonsense! His justice has been
fully satisfied in Christ, there is now no payment left for sin, Jesus has
wiped our slate clean, he has declared us innocent. It was not my confession
that made me holy, it is Jesus. If my ‘anything’ could make me holy, Jesus’s
death on the cross would not have been necessary, Jesus’s sacrifice is what
settled my debt and in doing so made me holy and I can therefore boldly
approach the throne room. I cannot possibly have more grace for someone than
God has! The only difference I see is those who believe what Jesus has done and
can enjoy living in that freedom and those that don’t believe it or don’t know
it, they are yet to hear the Good News of the fullness of Grace and God’s love
and affection for them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If we know how to love others, such as our
children beyond their behaviour, to love them unconditionally, where do we
think we get that ability from? We know how to love because we were loved
first. We know how to love because we are made in the image of God. Any
teaching that says God’s love is less than we can imagine needs to be seriously
reconsidered. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are on a journey of discovery, grace really is
bigger and wider and deeper than we all thought and I’m sure there’s more to
discover!</span></div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-24325284444732172972013-03-09T20:01:00.000+00:002013-03-09T20:01:20.265+00:00Communion - The last holy grail to be demolished?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Church is not a building you go to on Sundays, it
is a living organism made up of a community of believers. No more calling
people into the centre to build an empire, instead the dispersal into natural
community.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
There is no clergy laity split. No sacred secular
division. Tithing is exchanged for generosity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
There are no rituals that get you closer to God
and no sacrifice left for sin. The enemy has been defeated and you don’t need
deliverance, you need to be reminded of your true identity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Leadership is not a ‘more anointed than you’ dictatorship,
it is the fellowship of believers in equality with, if needed for a time, some
servant led leadership. No more advancing up pyramid structures of church and
no more looking at women as inferior.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
From ‘come and get what I’ve got’ ministry lines to
a ‘come and get nothing’ because I’ve just preached the gospel and you know you’ve
been given everything in Jesus.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Fire tunnels to impart the Holy Spirit now changed
to identity tunnels reminding people who they are in Christ and they too carry
the fullness. No calling out the special people to make the tunnel because they
have ‘more’ than those going through it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
No more prophetic words of doom and gloom and
instead pointing back to the cross before encouraging the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
And yet even with all this discovery of what
church is and is not, and what Jesus has already done for us, why do we enact
communion in a way that speaks of something we’ve declared dead religion?</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
I understand in places where there has been no
journey away from clergy laity distinctions or there is still a belief that
some people are more anointed than others, that there will be no change in how
communion is undertaken but in places where there is a clear belief that nobody
is more anointed than another, that there is no need for a priest, as we have
one priest in Jesus, that communion is a place of remembering the truth of
Jesus’s sacrifice and the ending of the old covenant, I think those truths
should manifest in how communion is experienced. So instead of a religion
soaked ritual, we could experience intimacy in sharing the bread and wine with
Jesus and with each other, where it brings life to our bones and joy to our
spirits.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
As it stands in the majority of gatherings of
Christians, when it is ‘communion time’ there seems to be a whole mumbo jumbo world
that manifests. The ‘special’ ministers prepare the bread and wine, often with
the ‘special’ table cloth, the ’special’ plate and the ‘special’
cup/glass/goblet. There might be ‘special’ prayers said over the bread and
wine, making the whole moment much more holy than if they hadn’t said the
prayer or got the special equipment out. For ‘special’ read ‘holy’. Then the
people queue up and are handed a wafer or bit of bread, rarely are people
allowed to touch the bread themselves because they are not anointed enough to
do so, they might be handed a bit but not be given the whole loaf as that might
contaminate it and when it comes to the wine there’s no chance of prising that
goblet out of the anointed persons hand. They grip that thing like you’re gonna
run off down the aisle and sell it to ‘cash for gold’. A whole world of ‘us’
holy people and ‘them’, the not so holy or anointed ones. Another display of
division in the gatherings, a distinction between the clergy and the laity, not
so named in less traditional churches but clearly demonstrated nonetheless. As
soon as there are only certain people allowed to distribute the bread and wine
the clergy laity split is there. As soon as there is a set structure for how to
‘do’ communion it has lost its mysticism and purpose.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
People shuffle along the queue not really talking
as they are preparing themselves for this holy moment, very solemn, very
organised, very weird! Anybody walking in would think they’d entered a zombie
apocalypse.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
To me it is a massive display of the distance
between the individual and Jesus, the need for a priest to assist you with
communion, to stand in between you and God, to ‘do’ something to the bread and
wine because they are more specially anointed than you. There’s delay to the
communion whilst you stand in the queue, waiting for your ‘holy communion’
moment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Instead it could be a beautiful opportunity for us
to have a keen awareness of our inclusion in the death and resurrection of
Jesus. To have a moment of intimacy to remember who we are, our true identity,
as co-crucified with Christ and to partake in a meal of remembrance and
mystery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
We live in relationship with Jesus and in this
relationship Jesus is sharing his own communion with his Father and Spirit with
us. There is intimacy and no third party standing in the gap between us.
Communion reminds us that the veil is torn and we have full access to God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
The Last Supper was the Passover meal, the time of
friends and family gathering around a table, sharing their history and their
redemption, their rescue from slavery, a celebration of God’s goodness and
faithfulness. It was at this meal Jesus declared a new covenant, a new moment
to remember and not just for the Jewish people but for all people. He was going
to sacrifice his body as the Passover lamb to be the final sacrifice for sin,
to take his place as the one High Priest. He told them to remember. He is the
bread of life, the sustainer of life, he is the substance of life and by
breaking bread together we remember his supremacy, his sacrifice and his love
intent towards us. The moment shouldn’t be rushed by the time constraints of a
meeting but enjoyed as part of the rhythm of the community. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Paul included instructions regarding communion
during meetings, that have been taken to be legal requirements, people become
fearful of taking communion when not in full unity with everyone around them as
if the bread will become poison to them because they were disrespectful. Paul
was trying to guide them into taking communion in a way of belief, bringing
life to your body through the belief in all the bread and wine represents. As
usual Paul is trying to help the churches understand a mystery of faith in the
sacrifice rather than warning them that God would be angry with them and punish
them for getting it wrong. Once again Paul’s words are taken without any
reference to the rest of the paragraph or the letter, or who he’s writing to or
any of the other things he said, or Jesus said or what the rest of the bible
said and so a whole doctrine is built up on a few sentences which are then used
for creating a controlled clergy led ‘something’. I am sure that people do
engage with Jesus during communion regardless of how controlled or religious it
has become but I’d really like to see another holy cow shot and allow people
the liberty to commune without the third party intervention or special meetings
or special utensils.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
And finally a repeat from an early blog called
‘shot glasses’. To hold a shot glass with some red wine in it, to ponder its
contents, to smell it, to taste it slowly, reveling it’s wonder….</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
Communion glass. The wine. Representing his
precious blood poured out for me, redemption, rescue, love, hope, heaven’s
best, he becomes my DNA, the unforced rhythm of walking with him, he is my song
and my dance, he is my beloved and I am his. Here I have forgiveness and all
sufficient grace. Here is unity with Jesus, full communion, true vine dwelling,
and completeness. </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
To hold this glass is to hold eternity, he is the
beginning and end. It represents the covenant, the relationship. No words or
writing or testimony can fully explain this mystery it is an experience that
can be spoken of but not explained.</div>
Magshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673406498180777114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3634821873515289399.post-67186029142810090492012-10-12T18:59:00.003+01:002012-10-12T22:27:47.695+01:00Halloween<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had an unexpected
revelation the other day in Tesco. We
came upon the Halloween aisle and you know what? For the first time in my life I didn’t care!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been a Christian
my whole life pretty much and every year at this time I’ve found the Halloween
displays troubling. I was never one of those Christians that sees the demonic
everywhere – the Christian equivalent of the ‘reds-under-the-beds’
paranoia of the 50’s and 60’s! But I did
find it upsetting to see it. It used to bother me that so many American Christians would participate in trick-or-treating; dressing
up as ghosts and ghouls, witches and wizards and skeletons and devils. "Didn't they know how evil it all was?" I thought. I’ve never allowed my children to participate
in Halloween parties or dress up. (I
still vehemently object to trick-or-treating but that’s because it’s simply
another invasion of American culture into Britain and while I love the USA I’d
quite like to keep our society and culture British! However I’d be just as upset if Americans
in small villages started doing Morris dancing just because they saw us Brits doing
it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However the finished
work of the cross, the message of the superb and complete victory of Christ,
the understanding of the delight the Father takes in his creation and the union
we have through Jesus has obviously changed my thinking more radically than I
thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess I now think
that dressing up for Halloween and enjoying a party with a ‘scary’ theme is no
different to watching a scary movie or Doctor Who! It makes the participants no more likely to
become involved in the occult or have any influence over them than dressing up
as a Priest or a Nun for a ‘tarts & vicars’ party would make you suddenly
decide the religious life in a convent or monastery was for you! The activities and trapping of Halloween are
silly not demonic! The American Christians that participate in it have a much healthier attitude to Halloween than most evangelical/charismatic Christians in the UK - they treat it as a silly bit of family fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The enemy was soundly
defeated Colossians 2:15 tells us this “And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let’s stop focusing on
the enemy, stop focusing on the fear, stop obsessing about the outward appearance
and most of all stop judging. Let’s look
to Christ and his glorious triumph and give the enemy exactly the amount of
attention he deserves – <b><u>none at all</u></b>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04242884095138166695noreply@blogger.com2