Analysing My Roots

Dad was in a jolly mood when he got back from the pub last night. He was telling me a story about my Grandad, how he punched a police constable so hard once, his helmet flew off and span round in a shop doorway for what seemed like forever. I wonder what that was all about?

It would seem that's where i get my subversive streak from... the part of me that doesn't trust authority without good cause. However, as I have got older I've come to the realisation that I have more in common with my mother and father's maternal ancestors than their father's families.

From the Barnett's I have inherited a sense of zeal, and share the importance of having faith as a priority in your life.

From the Chambers' I have inherited the rural easy going and compassionate strengths... as well as a strong love of all things wild in nature. I've curiously also picked up my Great Grandfather's habit of sometimes talking with the palm of my hand tucked behind the back of my head... all without ever knowing him.

I'm not saying that I'm not my own person, I'd never believe that. I've always believed that we are more... much more than the sum of our parts. All I am saying, is that the old proverb "whats past is prologue" is true. Your background and how you you were raised do play a part in the person you become... but you always have a choice to resist the way you have been groomed, and your choices in life are your own.

I do think there is some important things to learn from our family history. We can learn a lot about ourselves from looking at our ancestors. Similarly, if we have not been comfortable with what we have been raised with, we can always look beyond our immediate experience. We are told in the Old Testament, that King Josiah looked at his family history and decided not to worship the Baal's, instead he saw that King David his ancestor worshipped the one true God of Israel, and decided to walk down that path.

This is the reason in his life, why when the Book of the Law was found, he fell on his knees and wept. Even though those around him probably thought he was a good king (not hard after they had a previous bozo king like Manasseh), and yet he still had room in his heart to recognise it was not enough. He still saw it was important to put himself right before God.

So much so, that when he died it was said of him that there was never a king who turned to the Lord to such a degree, either before or after him. High praise indeed.

King Josiah is a hero of mine, I can only hope I have the humility, courage of conviction and steadfastness of Spirit that he displayed in confronting the disobedience in his own heart and his own country.

Complicated

Well, this is fun!

A good friend of mine has returned to the area after several years working in Scotland. She is due to have her 30th birthday next week. She asked me if I could use my contacts to pull in as many of the old gang from Fellowship as I could.

I'm a decent bloke, when a friend asks you to do something... you do it no matter the personal cost.

I've remained largely silent in recent months with regard to sending Fellowship emails, for several reasons. The first one is that a lot of people lately just tend to be plain ignorant... if someone dropped me a line then (providing I was on ok terms with them), I would without doubt return the favour out of courtesy... even if it were just an acknowledgement. I don't even get that amount of respect from 95% of them. OK, so people are busy... but it doesn't even take 5 minutes just to say hello, "How are you doing?"

The second one is that in the past there have been a few who people tend to take advantage, they only drop me a line when they've got something to crow about and they want me to broadcast it for them. I'm not just their personal radio transmitter, I'm a human being.

The final straw for me is that there are a few people on that list who I don't get on with at present. One "friend" inparticular betrayed my trust, we were until Christmas fairly close... but when it came to choosing which way our relationship was going, she didn't have the maturity to talk about it like an adult. Instead she blanked me completely. If someone is prepared to act in such a manner, it is clear genuine friendship doesn't mean that much to them.

I'm the kind of person that trusts easily and in steadfast manner but once that trust is betrayed at a high level, in a severe way; it is very hard to get back into my circle of trust. I'm no doormat, and I do have self respect. Similarly, I prefer to take a long time before committing to a course of action, however once engaged I very rarely back out. I'm an all or nothing kind of guy on many levels.

Anyway I was asked to forward details of a party for a friend, and because of who they are and the fact they have been away from the area for so long... I made an exception. I passed it onto everyone, even the people I do not get on with. Even though I knew it might cause me trouble... I'm the honourable sort, and honour requires you do the things that cost you for your friends.

Wouldn't you know it, upon sending the email I get a text message from one of the people in my bad books, thanking me for the invite (err hello? Not my party!) and pretending like nothing has happened.

I'm sorry but when adult life confronts us with something we don't like, we shouldn't duck our heads in the sand... skipping off to fantasy land with our fingers in our ears singing "la la la not listening!". No. That behaviour is CHILDISH, not CHILDLIKE. The correct thing to do is evaluate the situation, on our own with God, or with the people close to us and then we reason it out, or form some sort of measured response. Running is never an option, at least not a effective, sensible or reasonable one.

Those are my thoughts on the subject anyway.

Disagreeing With Theological Giants

This probably isn’t as in depth as the original, which for some reason disappeared into the ether… great!!!! All thanks to MSN Spaces, where this was originally posted back in 2005.

I think my understanding of spiritual condition and sin is radically different from the versions put forward by both Augustine and Pelagius.

My understanding of “original” sin, is that the guilt for it lies solely with the original perpetrators, but the consequences of it still lie with us. Augustine would probably agree with this but the buck probably stops there.

Augustine would have us believe that our nature is changed to one of evil, that without baptism, we are all doomed from birth; even infants would not escape hellfire. This doesn’t fit with scripture, because scripture teaches us that we are judged by the light we receive. I think that people who have not developed a proper understanding of right and wrong, are not held accountable. God is completely righteous, completely loving and completely just.

Pelagius believed that our nature was essentially good, and that God would not call us to be good if we didn’t have the means within us to achieve this in the first place.

I disagree here with both of them. I agree our nature changed, but not in a sense of good or evil, just in attitude.

What we lost as a race when we fell, was not our capacity to do good, it was our ability to be in direct fellowship with God. This meant that we were made much more susceptible to evil desires. We were acting independently of God. It means that we cannot have a proper relationship with God though, one without true union. Although this makes us sinful, it doesn’t make us inherently evil by nature. Sin, as I have mentioned before came from an archery term meaning “to fall short”. In this state, how we fall short is up to us. We can try and keep God’s commands (but we will fail at some point), or we can openly rebel against God. However, in the final analysis… without God’s intervention both paths unfortunately end in destruction.

As an example, think of a broken tooth that becomes rotten. The break itself will not cause death, but it will attract more tartar and plaque which will lead to it’s death through rotting. We can obey God’s Law (which I suppose is equivalent to brushing your teeth and flossing), or we can openly rebel by refusing to do that and worse… eat sugary foods that we know are harmful.

By observing God’s will for us in our actions, we “clean our teeth”, by acting in rebellion to God we hasten our spiritual demise.

However, observance of the Law in itself is not sufficient (because we will always fail to some degree). The damage done to us means the eventual balance will lead to spiritual death. What we need is something that plugs the gap in our broken tooth.

That, would be Jesus. By dying for our sins, he restored the gap in our broken tooth. No, even more than this… he recreated us in his image, we are new creations… complete in god’s sight through Christ’s sacrifice. We can still sin of course, and that will harm the eventual condition of the tooth… but it will never rot to a point where it dies. This is why it is important to avoid sinning… scripture clearly teaches us that after death, Christians are still accountable for what they do with their salvation, it’s just that the eventual discipline does not result in eternal death.

Where Augustine believed mankind is fundamentally bad, Pelagius believed that mankind’s nature was fundamentally good. I believe that mankind is fundamentally broken, but has a diverse nature… Many of us are on the whole good, many essentially bad… but when we have reached that certain point of accountability in our life, we ALL require divine grace in order to attain salvation.

Both Pelagius and Augustine were of their time, as was Calvin… so I try not be too hard on them.

Calvin used the scripture “those God foreknew, he predestined” to propagate the idea that God only bothers trying to save a lucky few. If that were true, how would you explain the parable of the sower? Or the fact that according to Peter, Jesus preached to the Flood dead?

I find that teaching completely abhorrent. I believe that God loves and reaches out to all, equally and without discrimination. He does this despite the fact he knows people will reject him. This is perhaps the most tragic yet moving thing about his love for us. You might be an atheist from the cradle to the grave, and God will know this... he will know the fruitlessness of reaching out and attempting to save you... but do you know what, even with a 0% possibility of you choosing to accept him... he still reaches out.

There is a much used statement about Christ's sacrifice that is true: If by dying he could only save one person, and that person was you... he'd still do it.

What I believe is also true, is that even if NOBODY had chosen to accept his gift of salvation, he would still have offered it.

Pelagius, Augustine and Calvin all have to some degree or other, valid points. However, they all fall short because they do not have a proper understanding of how time works. They all favour either free will or destiny, without trying to properly explain the role of the other they have rejected.

God is outside of and yet permeates time completely. To him, all the past and all the future is happening in the present tense (can you even imagine the complexity of that?). He knows and loves you to the very core of your being. He knows every choice you have made, and will make, and why you made or will make them. He knows the way you will jump in every conceivable scenario, even when the interaction of others is involved. Each person’s individuality from the dawn of time till the end of days is taken into consideration; we therefore all have free will and the freedom to make any choice we wish. However, God also has a complete and perfect plan for the human race, which we all play our part in. So we have a destiny

That is the beautiful paradox. We are both completely free and completely destined. Recently I came across a proverb, which I believe backs this idea up:

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” - Proverbs 16:9

So based on my conclusions here and in other blog entries, I believe if I had existed at some point between 300 and 1700 AD, I would have been burned at the stake by at least one denomination.

So on a heresy rating of 1-10, where do you guys rate me? If you think I’m wrong, tell me. If you have your own comments on the thoughts of Pelagius, Augustine and Calvin… do tell. If I’ve gotten anything out of context please comment.

Blessings and regards

Nick

Ups and downs

Well that's two pregnancies in one week. Again, I am happy for my friends... but it just ties my guts up in knots. Have you ever heard the song "Sit Down" by James? There is a line that sums up how I feel.

"If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor!"

That's what it's like. To see other people flaunting the things you hunger for? It really stings.

On the positive side... I had a really bizarre dream 3 nights ago. I dreamed that a very polite, sweet and attractive Latino looking girl came up to me and said something like "Hello, God sent me to go out with you, he made me for you." She wasn't someone from my memory, and she didn't appear to be anyone famous. Anyway, shortly after this revelation I had the great misfortune of waking up!

I can only hope this proves prophetical. although one should always be careful of saying such things... you never know the cost. A ticket to the mission field in South America may precede it...

LOL!

All A Matter of Timing

My phone's text alert went off yesterday, whilst I was at the birthday party of the daughter of my best friend. I checked it and I was greeted with the news that another good friend is expecting a child in February.

I am absolutely elated for her, but quite depressed and frustrated with myself. Yes I know we've trodden this path before, I know I can't force God's hand. When the time is right, things will come good and the years of the locust (in this area of life) will be ended.

It's bad enough resisting the temptation to pick your own scabs and wounds, but when other people come along and pick them... that's something different, I cannot control that.

It seems these days for every voice of reason telling me to remain calm and that I have plenty of time, there are 3 more voices telling me to pull my finger out as I may miss the boat (These are voices of friends by the way, not voices in my head!).

It's all a matter of timing... isn't it?

I've decided to take things positively. I believe one thing is certain... something is coming. It may be distant on the horizon, or it may be just around the corner... but the gears are in motion and I can sense something in the air (apart from my rampant pheromones).

If the voices of calm are correct, the voices of urgency are there to force my hand... to make me choose someone rashly out of panic, someone who would break my heart and mess me up. If the voices of urgency are correct, I have to be alert as my chances are coming and I may miss out by waiting too long for the right person and the right moment... when both slip past me, as I fail to see the wood for the trees.

Either way, like I said... I can be encouraged by the fact that something is going on. I do believe I need to be a little more proactive, but only in the right circles.

The only voice that truly counts of course is God's. I just have to work out whether he's with the voices of calm, or urgency.

This would be so much easier if a wonderful young lady would walk past with an angel hovering above her pointing and holding up a giant placard saying "OI! DOPEY THIS IS THE WOMAN OF YOUR DREAMS... THE WOMAN GOD MADE TO MATCH YOU AS A PERSON WHEN HE DESIGNED YOU. DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GO AND ASK HER OUT BEFORE I BAT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH THIS PLACARD!"

No?

Guess I'll just have to do this the hard way

A Busy Day

I spent a large part of today attending a funeral for my next door neighbour, who was staunchly Roman Catholic. I didn't feel comfortable in the service because 90% of it was read in Latin (as per his wishes). I know the odd word here and there, but not enough to follow properly. I was also made uncomfortable by the fact that the priest conducted large segments of the service facing away from the congregation. There was no sense of empathy, it all seemed quite cold to me. It was very different to my experiences of services during my time at Roman Catholic schools. I refused to sing some of the hymns, because I didn't agree with some of the theology in them. There was one weird hymn that had a verse about reclaiming England, it could just have been about revival but the context seemed a little too anti-protestant to me. The priest taking the service spoke a lot about purgatory, and I had to point out to my own parents (sigh), that Anglicans don't believe in that as it's not in scripture. I also had to point out that we don't subscribe to transubstantiation of the bread and wine.

Back to the use of Latin, it brought home to me the fact I have strong beliefs about language. I believe language should serve the people, not people serve the language. All these purists who seek to exclude new words from the dictionary because it corrupts "true English", I feel are quite snobbish. The dictionary was originally created to catalogue the words the British were using, to enable people to enhance their vocabulary. It's not like the Bible. It isn't heresy to add new bits to the English language.

The simple truth is that language evolves and modifies/improves our breadth of description for something we want to express. Take love for example. In the New Testament, there are three words for love... each with a different level of emphasis. We need to be aware of it went talking on the subject, otherwise we risk speaking inadequately through our lack of comprehension.

I disapprove of church services and public scripture readings where the common tongue of the congregation is not used. It hampers access to God's wisdom (which is of course exactly what it was intended to do in the middle ages, if you couldn't understand God's will through his word, you were at the mercy of clergy and rich people who were the only ones educated enough to understand it).

On another subject, my sister has developed yet another pulmonary embolism (blood clot). She's OK, I picked her up from diagnosis at the hospital and took her home. Her boyfriend is coming up from London tomorrow, so he can keep her in check. I'm now the only person in my immediate family who does not have some kind of problem with my circulatory system. My father has a heart condition, my mother has high blood pressure and my sister is a clot!

As the Dust Settles

The big clean up operation is taking place, even as I write. Commuters are trying to get back into their "normal" routine. What must NOT happen now, is the following:

• This gets used as an excuse to rubber stamp the ID Card Bill.
• We get whipped up into a frenzy and go off attacking nations left right and centre.
• We surrender to fear.
• The politicians talk about not letting terrorists interfere with our freedoms and our way o life.

If we let any of the above happen, they will have failed us.

I intend to post more as I learn more. I suppose as time goes on and we analyse the aftermath, we ask ourselves... Qui Bono?

London Bombings

I just want to send out my heartfelt sympathy for those affected by the atrocities that took place in London this morning.

It's awful.

The security in London would have been reduced, because some police were being temporarily drafted up north to help handle the G8 conference. A perfect time to attack, especially as the international eye is on London at the moment due to the G8 and the Olympic news.

Early indications from Arab sources and MI5 are implying an Al Qaeda attack. The BBC news correspondent I was listening to was saying that the suggestion that one of the attacks was perpetrated by a suicide bomber would seem to point to Al Qaeda as well.

The Prime Minister for all his faults, and for as much as I dislike him and his policies - genuinely sounded shocked and broken by what had happened.

This is a good time for the G8 leaders to stand united on the subject. A joint, live statement on TV would be good.

It's also absolutely vital that the issues being discussed at the G8 (especially Africa and climate change) are not dismissed because of this, and it's absolutely right for Tony Blair to return to the capital for at least a short while, to observe firsthand what has happened.

If you have any views on the subject, or even prayer requests for anybody caught up in events, I'd like to hear from you.

I hope that you and yours, are safe and well.

N

Addendum:

I just heard George Bush's words to the media as he emerged from the G8 meeting to issue a statement... "The war on terror goes on..." This is not a time for political posturing, or striking back half-cocked; nor is it a time for sabre rattling. For pities sake, the bodies of the dead have not gone cold and the tears of thise who mourn have not yet dried! It is a time for reflection, taking stock, grieving alongside those who suffer and comforting them. It is a time to help the broken rebuild. Just because his feet are swift to rush into blood, doesn't mean ours have to be.

Perspectives

After reading that Charlotte was going to be offline for a while and reading a poem in my Bible notes, something became clear to me this afternoon. It's something I've known for a while, but it was reaffirmed when I was praying.

We need dual perspectives in our lives. I'll give you two examples:

Firstly, imagine you are a tourist walking through a sprawling metropolis. You are unfamiliar with your surroundings. There are people bumping into you, and you are surrounded by a manic network of intersecting streets and tight alleyways. Visualise two or three landmarks you want to get to. You may know roughly which way you need to go, but its easy to lose your sense of direction with all the twists and turns. You have to admit, you are getting lost. Now I want you to imagine that instead of going north, south, east or west; you go... up. As you rise above the heads and shoulders of the businessmen and shoppers around you, you see down the road ahead of you. More than this, as you rise above the rooftops... you see in the distance, the places you want/need to get to in life. When you come back down, you'll have a fresh view of where you are going... and you are filled with new purpose.

Again, it is like an artist who is a set designer. You have a huge canvas in front of you, and you need to be right up against it to carry out the work. Yet, if you do not occasionally step right back from it and review the "big picture", you will not have a good idea of how the painting is taking shape... or what you need to do to put things right, to make it work.

The point I'm making here is simple and yet in the mundane turmoil of our everyday existence, it is so easy to lose sight of it.

Sometimes, we need to take time out and spend time with God, to recharge our batteries and to get a fresh glimpse of where we are going. Equally, when God has given us nourishment and direction, we need to follow along the path he points us. We need to both step back and appreciate the grand scheme of things, and then we have to return to our place in time and space... committing our hearts and hands to the long road ahead.

You need both perspectives. That's all I feel I need to say, but if you are happy to read on...

Let's take a look at the prophet Elijah. At Mount Carmel, he had just witnessed the greatest barbecue of all time at Mount Carmel. He had proclaimed God's judgement on the wicked prophets of Baal, and had witnessed firsthand, the power of God. His opponents were being routed and yet despite all this, he still felt afraid:

"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.""

You see, it was only after Elijah took time out... that he was able to commune with God and understand what the next move both for himself as an individual and Israel as a people, was. We all need to recharge our batteries at times, physical, mental and especially spiritual.

Make sure you take time out... even if it's not much, give some time over to meditate on God.

Alien Relations

You know, it's amazing some of the things you end up talking about at church. Some of the lads were talking about alien characters from science fiction who looked attractive.

This ended up moving onto the subject of, "if a hot alien woman came down from another planet, would it be OK to date and potentially marry?" (Leaving the aside the subject of beliefs clashing).

???????????? How did we get on to that???????????????????

There were two principle arguments. The first being, if they were sentient and had free will... then they could be classed as equal to us in God's eyes. So yeah!

Then there was the counter argument that if they were physiologically different from us, you'd be breaking the Torah. You know, the bit about only breeding each according to it's own kind.

Although it's an entirely apocryphal thing to talk about, I reckon if God was OK with it, he'd not make us that genetically incompatible. Some Christians think it heresy to suggest that there might be life out there. however, I know one theologian who is also an astronomy scholar who would give you 50/50 on it.

The big question for me is, if they exist... are they fallen like us? Or are they still in a state where their direct link to God was never broken? Imagine that.

Wouldn't it be tragic if there were say a few other sentient races out there, who only became sinful because of us. They fell, because mankind fell. That would just be awful.

Or what if God created each sentient species in such a way that they would all fall and require his redemption... this is certainly an idea backed up by some theological thinking, after all there is a thought that the plan for the cross existed before mankind existed.

I still can't believe we were seriously talking about it though. Slightly off topic, I managed to find out the name of the actress who played the blue twilek in episode III. She's Amy Allen. I have left a link to IMDB somewhere on here, so you can check her out for yourself.