Living safely 20 Mar 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Living safely
So much death and destruction. Is it getting worse? Some think so. Others say that the earthquakes and cyclones are happening more or less as they always did but that more humans are living in a greater number of dangerous places. And communications are so good now that we can see every disaster the moment it happens.
So the death and destruction is getting worse just because there are more people and more cities. But is that all we want to say? What about God? Are these God’s judgements? And which god? Common conversation attributes the disasters to “nature”. Presumably the material world of planet earth conceived of as an impersonal force (with or without “intent”).
Christians don’t believe in “nature” in this sense.
Dead Disciples 13 Mar 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Dead Disciples
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau in 1906. His father was a professor of psychiatry and neurology. In 1930 he became a lecturer in Systematic Theology at the University of Berlin. When Hitler came to power in 1933 he left his academic career and began speaking against the idolatry of the ‘Fuhrer’. He spent a couple of years in Britain and then returned to Germany to set up an illegal training college – closed by the Gestapo in 1940. He was helped to get out of Germany in 1939 but soon returned to share the troubles with his fellows. He was arrested in 1943 and sent to concentration camps and prisons where he had a powerful ministry to fellow prisoners. He was executed in Flossenburg in April 1945 a few weeks before the Allies arrived.
Among his writings The Cost of Discipleship has been a continuing encouragement to Christians. Most of it is an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. Part of it is a reflection on the last part of Mark 8. Here is part of what he says about being a disciple.
The difficult Jesus and the fermented brain 6 Mar 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
The difficult Jesus and the fermented brain
One of the things that strikes you about Jesus is his radical intention to change the way people relate to God. He does not negotiate with those who have their own agendas or traditions about how they should relate to God.
He offers no hint of approval to the religious leaders, no suggestion of a possible compromise. He gives them no room to move. He wants them to abandon their old ways and follow him. He does not offer them a parallel track. Nor does he give any hint of a (lower) secondary level of discipleship.
Even the disciples, who seem to be less caught up in the traditions, have trouble coming to terms with what he says.
Is it because his teaching about the kingdom is new? It turns out that he is merely restating what was there in the Old Testament all along. He keeps talking like one of the prophets of old. It is old stuff.
Read more: The difficult Jesus and the fermented brain 6 Mar 11
How does the church get money? 27 Feb 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
How does the church get money?
Different churches get money in different ways. Here are a few choices:
Duress: or pressure, haranguing, brow-beating and nagging.
Guilt: based on various kinds of legalism, the guilt of the wealthy, the needs of the poor, or just general feelings of guilt.
Offers-too-good-to-be-true: the more you give the wealthier you will become
Tradition: such as tithing
Duty: you ought to do this
Fear: or anxiety about money (or the lack of it) and what might happen if ...
Seduction: you can become a famous/respected/ spiritual Christian if you give a lot.
Need: Easily manipulated in the interests of those making the appeal. More about this below.
Look to outsiders: get people outside the church to give to us
Start a business: or something that will provide an income stream. This has some merit when it relates to helping people finding employment and becoming self-providing – see below.
Ask for help: from richer churches. A very tricky matter. See John Rowell: To Give or not to Give?
Get a subsidy: related to the previous method. Research suggests that subsidised churches develop as weak churches (including those that live off an investment).
And no doubt there are more non-biblical ideas...
In the Bible? What does it have to say? Something simple (as you might expect):
What’s God been doing? 20 Feb 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
What’s God been doing?
Think back over the last few months or so and remember the things that have happened to you. Some of them have been welcome happy events, others have been difficult and hard to cope with. And most have seemed minor and neither especially good or bad. But how many of these events have been crucial in God’s great purposes?
A silly question perhaps since we only know the broad outline of God’s great purposes. And we don’t usually know the longer term outcomes of recent events anyway. But we might want to say that in all these things God was at work for good. Although in the case of the difficult events it might be difficult to see where the good was being worked.
Messing with evil 13 Feb 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Messing with evil
"What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don't give me a hard time!" so said the out-of-control man to Jesus (according to The Message translation).
Does it sound familiar? “What business is it of yours to mess with me and start telling me about your God?”
“Who said you could try to ram your religion down my throat?”
“Leave us alone and don’t disturb us with any of that Christianity nonsense.”
And so on. The man in the story found his territory invaded by someone much more powerful than himself and responded quite aggressively. His aggression was partly sparked by fear. His space was invaded not just by a stronger person but by one with very great authority. So much so that he knew he had to kneel in front of Jesus to acknowledge it.
But he didn’t want his world messed up.
Praying for what? 6 Feb 11
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- Written by: Dale
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Praying for what?
This week I have been preparing some guidelines for our Intercessors about the kinds of things we should pray for in our common prayers in church. It is worth being reminded about our heritage as Anglicans. This is the intercession prayer from the original 1662 Prayer Book Communion service. Notice the kinds of things that are prayed for.
Dale
Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth.
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