the community I have been part of for a long time seems to be going into meltdown

over the past few evenings I have read nearly 600 posts on a handful of facebook groups, but this one stands out from the crowd, paraphrasing it:

It really makes me sad to see that "being member of the [insert denomination]" these days means having to constantly argue over things that may not be really worth it.

It is all I seem to hear, arguing, amongst ourselves, always having to prove we are right, no wonder I have had enough... I am not saying anywhere else would be different, but I feel like I just need a break from this mindset and attitude. Especially as it is one I struggle to embrace.

grace and peace

In John there are a couple of verses that are troubling me

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God

John 13:3

and

Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'

John 20:17

For someone to return somewhere means they must have been there before, and know about it.

Here is section 2 of God's heart for the poor, taking a selection of verses from the History and Wisdom books

1 Samuel 2:8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; on them he has set the world.

Job 20:10
His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

Job 22:8-10
Though you were a powerful man, owning land—an honored man, living on it. And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you

Job 29:11-13
Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them. Those who were dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.

Job 30:25
Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

Job 31:16-23
"If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,  if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless—but from my youth I reared them as a father would, and from my birth I guided the widow— if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or the needy without garments, and their hearts did not bless me for warming them with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

Psalm 12:5
"Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them."

Psalm 72:4
May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.

Psalm 72:12
For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

Psalm 82:3
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Psalm 82:4
Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 113:7-8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.

Psalm 140:12
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

Psalm 146:9
The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 19:17
Those who are kind to the poor lend to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

Proverbs 21:13
Those who shut their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 22:22
Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,

Proverbs 29:7
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

Proverbs 29:13
The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.

Proverbs 29:14
If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.

At church this morning we read Revelations chapters 1 and 2.

I got rather sidetracked by the following verses:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 1:8

and

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.

Revelation 2:8 (it also says the same in 1:17

So my qestion is: how is the phrase 'first and last' different from 'Alpha and Omega'? Because as it reads, God and Jesus (who we know is the one who died and came to life again) are described in what is essentially the same way

In chapter 22 it appears even more so the case (verse 12-13)

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End

Here, it seems Jesus is speaking, as in this chapter the context is 'come Lord Jesus'

Does anyone have a view on this?

Much is done for the poor throughout the world, but sometimes I think it is actually easier to head off to the developing/emerging world and work for social justice there. And my church is pretty good at this important work. Where we lack though, is what we do for people in our city. The call to work justice for the poor, the marginalised, the outcasts, the foreigners is absolutly clear.

Over the following weeks, I shall work through the Bible, pulling out a few key verses from the Torah, the History and Wisdom Books, The Prophets and then the New Testament.

If you are in any doubt about God's heart for poor and how we should treat the them (and the widows, the fatherless and the foreigner), then the following verses should help. I hope too that they make you (as indeed, they have made me) think about the needs we have on our door steps.

Exodus 22:21
"Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Exodus 22:22-23
"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

Exodus 23:6
"Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

Exodus 23:12
"Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the foreigner among you as well, may be refreshed

Leviticus 19:9-10
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 25:35
'If any of your own people become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.

Deuteronomy 15:7
If anyone is poor among your people in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.

Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to the poor and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward those of your people who are poor and needy in your land.

Deuteronomy 24:14
Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is an Israelite or is a foreigner residing in one of your towns.

Deuteronomy 27:19
"Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow."  Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

I Often think about the passage in Chronicles, when Solomon dedicates the work of the finished temple. All the plans, the work, the preparations. It stood there with thousands of people in front of it. Its glory clear to see for all.

The priests start their ceremony, all planned to the finest and smallest detail, and to be fair, it starts quite well.

Then it all goes wrong, something amazing happens, God actually shows up

Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.

The priests could not perform their service because the Glory of God filled the temple.

Awesome.

What intrigues me is how 'we' responds when God shows up at our church during worship. We are not far from the police and bus stations so we have some interesting passing foot traffic from time to time. And it feels like the interruptions are not welcome. I mean, a dirty, smelly person just does not fit in and means we cannot get on with the very important business of study/reading/singing/whatever. But what does Matthew 25 tell us? Verse 34

"Then the
King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

I am going to start a series on the scriptures that contain posts about how we should deal with these kinds of situations as it is clear we have a duty.

Grace and peace

I realise this is the first blog post for a while, while I think I have had plenty to say, I have just decided not to say it. I have been thinking about my blog, and more generally, my online life. I had some interesting offline feedback a few weeks back. I am wondering if the sub-text was 'I think you should stop blogging' well that is what it felt like. There was also some criticism that I don't reference scripture enough in my posts. I can't remember quite how I responded, but I think it was something along the lines of that is not what my posts are about. This blog is simply my unrefined ramblings!

Much has been going on these last few weeks, not least a thought that I might delete my facebook account.

On Sunday just gone, we had a little cake and tea party for L who was 2 yesterday. We invited a whole bunch of friend. Some from church, some from our street and some from a little further afield. We ranged from young (4 weeks) to old (70+). I have a memory from the day that still makes me smile. Two uniformed police officers turned up. The faces of the children and adults was priceless; the children awestruck and the adults concern and I am not sure what, horror? Well one of the officers is actually a neighbour and happened to be on duty, but such is their kindness and friendship that they took a five minute detour to pick up a slice of cake. As I said, it is still making me smile.

The party was (for my wife and me) a real example of missional living. Church friends, neighbours, and other friends all laughing, sharing with no pressure, no agenda, just being present together. That said, I realise how hard it is to actually get to speak to everyone at such events, so my apologies to those I didn't get to speak to, other than, do you want a slice of cake?

Well, I am going to keep blogging, I still have much to share (just maybe not via facebook!)

Grace and peace

the only problem is, I don't know which third!

In some NT Wright lectures I have, Tom says something along the following

I used to tell my students that one third of everything I will teach you will be wrong. The only problem is, I don't know which things. You see, in my moral and spiritual life I make many mistakes. Of these my wife normally point out one lot, God has a usually finds ways for the next lot. BUT, as for the others, it is impossible to think a thought as part of the structure of what you are doing and simultaneously think it is wrong.

This reminds me of listening to Tony Jones and Jack Caputo talk about having a "hermeneutic humility", or in plain English, humility about how we interpret scripture and theorize about what they "actually" mean.

It is so easy to get carried away thinking we are right and as Tom Wright says, it is impossible to work something out, based on all one previously knew and then turn around and think it might be wrong! I guess that is why in my work world we are so keen (or maybe not so keen...) on peer review. Our work, protocols, ideas, results, publications all have to go for scrutiny, by people who may broadly think the same things, but who are probably coming from a different theoretical/philosophical/clinical background. I joke and say we are maybe not so keen on peer review, but this is not really a joke - I have been on the receiving end of peer reviews and thought "what the $%&$@..." did you even read what we wrote? (And that was something I even got funded for!).

So about five years ago I visited my mum out in Turkey, she was running a network of safe houses for refugees. When I say refugees, I mean Iranians who had converted to Christianity and had to then flee overnight, literally with just the clothes they wore, as their families, neighbours and employers found out. Turkey was a safe haven only slightly safer alternative, and a place where these folks could pull together their cases and applications with UNHCR and try to work out what to do next.

So I am visiting my mum, and we visit a group, a family, two sisters and a couple of others and I have not really experienced a hospitality like it. Later on that trip I went to Moldova, and also experienced incredible hospitality, hospitality, that despite the poverty, was someone's home and their hand cooked faire. But the hospitality I experienced in that single room, crowded with people is etched on my mind.

Drinking Iranian/Turkish tea served from a random assortment of cups, and fresh melon (an odd combination really). It was an offering from people who had literally nothing, no belongings of substance, no money, no roots, no - I am glad to say plenty of hope. In fact all they probably had was hope.

It was during this meal (which looking back was like a communion meal) that one of the guys brought out the glasses. He had found them that day on one of his cautious trips out to buy provisions. He bent down and then sat up and made the most hilarious face.

And for about the next 10 minutes, the pain, the grief, the heart-ache, the sate of unknowing, dissolved into hysterics! We all had a go.

As the guest, I was then presented with the glasses.

A gift, a reminder, something to help me laugh, despite the adversities I would no doubt experience.

I gratefully accepted, still wiping tears from my eyes.

I still have them (somewhere), and every now and then we will put them on and laugh, and the picture is my eldest wearing them when she was about 2 (nearly three years ago) and doing her best to make a face that would go with the glasses.

So there you go, the back story to the googly eyed glasses.

Grace and peace

Over at the Origins Project there is a post and a whole bunch of comments

This is taken from a response by Dan Kimball - I have read it a few times and it gets better each time

I dream of a church...

- that reaches the broken world to bring a healing that can only come from Jesus Christ

- that does not get caught up in technicalities and politics but stays focused on the Lord

- that helps me understand

- that is more about helping others than about us

- that listens to the Holy Spirit and is bigger than man's efforts

- is honest and open-minded rather than self-righteous and dogmatic OR has donuts. I will be OK with either.

- who is loving and unafraid

- accepts people where they are in life and not just when they have achieved a level of "spiritualness"

- grows in the knowledge of God and His love for the world

- lifts up Jesus and redeems things like the environment, stewardship, the arts and philosophy

- that prays for one another

- that serves others, feeds the hungry, visits the sick and imprisoned

- lives a diversity of thoughts, opinions, ages, worship expressions and celebrates the differences

- is a soft place to fall; that is a daily part of my life; that doesn't feel like a wall; that is the heartbeat of Christ

- that knows me and loves me anyway

- impacts the community around them so that it can be a light for Jesus in people's lives

- that gets lost in worshiping Jesus and lingers in His presence

- that is the church throughout the week and not just on Sunday

- that is real and where people are not fake and has a passion to serve those in need

- acts like a family, reaches out to community, accepts all people

- that Jesus would be proud of

- that changes lives by drawing people to Christ

- whose whole heart is consumed with Christ and flows to others

- that is completely outward focused and selfless

- that will challenge our minds to learn God's Word and support each other in our walks with God

- that doesn't isolate and separate ourselves from "this bad world"

- that is my family and my home

- that has a love for the untouchables of our era

Time to stop dreaming now and set about making this as much of a reality as possible